BV  1549 

.L4  1910 

Lewis, 

Edward  Samuel, 

1855- 

The  senior  worker 

and 

his 

work 

1S15 


The  Worker  and  His  Work  Series 


A  Correspondence  Study  Course  for 
Sunday  School  Workers 


THE  SENIOR  WORKER 
AND  HIS  WORK 


EDWARD  S.  LEWIS 


Authorized  and  Issued  by  the  Board  of  Sunday 
Schools  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
Fifty-Seven  Washington  Street,  Chicago,  Illinois, 
David   G.    Downey,    Corresponding    Secretary, 

IN  CO-OPERATION  WITH  JOHN  T.   McFaRLAND,   EdITOR  OF 

Sunday  School  Publications,  and  with  his  approval. 

Printed  for  the  Board 

by 

JENNINGS  AND  GRAHAM 


Copyright,  1910,  by 
The  Board  of  Sunday  Schools 

OF    THE 

Methodist  Episcopal  Church 


CONTENTS 


Page 

Introductory  Chapter. — The  Graded  Sunday-School,     -  9 

I.    From  Babe  to  Man, 23 

II.    Middle  Youth, 39 

III.  The  Wistful  Years, 53 

IV.  The  Teacher's  First  Pupil, 63 

V.    Consecration  Plus  Preparation,         -        -        -  75 

VI.  How  to  Plan  the  Work, 87 

VII.  How  TO  Analyze  a  Lesson,          ....  ^g 

VIII.  The  Teacher's  Use  of  Questions,           -        .  -  113 

IX.  Illustrations — Their  Value  and  Use,       -        -  127 

X.  A  Study  of  the  Senior  Problem,            -        .  -141 

XI.  Morning-Glory  Blossoms, i^^ 

XII.  How  to  Teach  Religion  to  Seniors,      -        -  -  167 

XIII.  How  to  Teach  Morals  and  Manners,       -        -  179 

XIV.  The  Social  Instincts  and  Their  Training,   -  -  173 
XV.  The  Senior's  World, 207 

XVI.  Benevolence  and  Service, 219 

XVII.  Class  Organization, 233 

XVIII.  Ways  of  Working, 245 

XIX.  Joining  the  Brotherhood;  -        -        -        .       259 

XX.  The  Call  of  the  World, 273 

Bibliography, 284 

3 


PREFACE 

The  present  Sunday-school  awakening  is  the  brightest  and 
most  hopeful  sign  in  the  religious  world.  All  the  Churches 
are  showing  a  new  appreciation  of  the  value  of  the  child 
and  an  unwonted  confidence  in  the  Bible  and  its  teachings. 
This  has  come  none  too  soon.  The  Church  can  not  hope 
to  prosper  as  we  long  to  have  it  unless  it  succeeds  in  holding 
more  of  her  young  people  than  she  is  holding  or  has  ever 
held.  This  is  distinctly  the  pressing  problem  of  all  the 
Churches.  The  religious  interests  of  our  own  children  are 
incomparably  the  Church's  first  responsibility  and  greatest 
work.  We  shall  be  discredited  both  at  home  and  in  the 
mission  fields  if  we  prove  powerless  to  recruit  our  member- 
ship in  larger  numbers  from  our  own  homes. 

The  Senior  Department  of  the  Sunday-school  exists  mainly 
on  paper.  Even  our  best  organized  schools  seldom  have  a 
Senior  Department  separately  organized  and  worked.  And 
yet  it  is  important — indispensable — to  successful  work.  To 
what  purpose  do  we  win  the  younger  scholars  if  we  lose  them 
in  the  senior  years? 

This  manual  is  an  attempt  to  help  the  Senior  teacher 
solve  his  perplexing  and  momentous  problem.  It  has  been 
freed  as  much  as  possible  from  technical  forms,  yet  it  has 
been  held  to  accepted  educational  principles.  The  author 
hopes  that  it  may  be  found  interesting,  as  well  as   didactic, 

5 


•6  PREFACE 

and  that  some  may  read  it  who  may  not  work  through  it. 
He  has  endeavored  to  avoid  undue  attention  to  mechanical 
details  of  method  and  to  trust  mainly  in  larger  inspirations. 

He  has  encountered  the  usual  embarrassment  in  writing 
for  both  men  and  women  without  an  outfit  of  appropriate 
personal  pronouns.  So  he  has  used  the  masculine  series  uni- 
formly, and  hereby  asks  that  these  be  freely  appropriated  by 
the  women  who  teach  and  those  who  learn. 

When  the  Sunday-school  shall  have  solved  its  adolescent 
problem,  the  Church  will  enter  its  brightest  era  since  Pente- 
cost. Edward  S.  Lewis. 

New  York,  March  15,  1910. 


INTRODUCTORY  CHAPTER 

THE  GRADED  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 


INTRODUCTORY    CHAPTER 

THE  GRADED  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

By  Wade  Crawford  Barclay, 

Educational  Director  of  the  Board  of  Sunday-schools 

I.    Standard  of  Organization 

1.  The  purpose  of  organization.  Organization  is 
simply  a  means  to  an  end.  Given  a  certain  situation,  the 
Sunday-school  should  adopt  such  form  of  organization  as 
Conditions  ^^^^  ^^^^  enable  it  to  adapt  itself  to  that  situ- 
Determine  ation  and  to  accomplish  the  ends  for  which  it 
Details  of  exists.  If  the  school  meets  in  a  little  country 
Organization  schoolhouse,  has  one  teacher,  one  class,  and  an 
enrollment  of  fifteen  persons,  it  will  not  be  aided  in  doing 
its  work  by  adopting  the  complicated  organization  demanded 
by  the  city  school  of  a  thousand  members.  But  even  the 
smallest  and  weakest  frontier  school  may,  in  a  simple  or- 
ganization suited  to  its  situation  and  its  needs,  recognize  the 
fundamental  principles  which  make  its  big  brother  of  the 
highest  educational  and  religious  efficiency.  Conditions  vary 
so  widely  in  different  schools  that  it  is  impossible  to  sug- 
gest a  form  of  organization  suited  to  all.  Each  school  will 
do  best  by  acquainting  itself  thoroughly  with  the  highest 
ideals  in  Sunday-school  work ;  then,  having  adopted  a  work- 
ing plan  suited  to  its  situation,  it  may  gradually  advance 
toward  the  ideal. 

2.  The  ideal  standard.    So  far  as  possible,  every  Sunday- 

9  3 


10         THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

school     should    attain    to    the    following    ideal     of    organi- 
zation : 

(i)  The   Sunday-school    fully   graded.      (For   complete 
statement  on  graded  organization,  see  pp.  I3-I4-) 

(2)  A  Cradle  Roll. 

(3)  A  Home  Department. 

(4)  A  Teacher  Training  Department. 

(5)  Organized  Adult  Classes. 

(6)  A  Sunday-school  Missionary  Organization. 

(7)  A  Sunday-school  Temperance  Organization. 

(8)  Regular  Meeting  of  the  Sunday-school  Board. 

3.  Officers  necessary  to  realize  this  ideal.  We  suggest 
as  advisable,  in  order  to  realize  this  ideal  of  organization 
and  all  that  it  implies,  to  have  at  least  the  following  officers : 
Superintendent ;  an  Assistant  Superintendent,  who  shall  be 
Director  of  Graded  Instruction ;  a  second  Assistant  Super- 
intendent, who  shall  be  Director  of  Teacher  Training;  in 
large  schools  superintendents  of  various  departments,  as  Su- 
perintendent of  the  Primary  Department,  Superintendent  of 
the  Junior  Department,  etc. ;  Superintendent  of  the  Home  De- 
partment; Superintendent  of  the  Cradle  Roll;  Secretary;  an 
Assistant  Secretary,  who  shall  be  Secretary  of  Enrollment 
and  Classification;  Treasurer;  Organist;  Chorister;  one  or 
more  Librarians;  Ushers,  and  various  committees,  of  which 
one  should  be  the  Quarterly  Conference  Committee  on  Sunday- 
schools  required  by  the  Discipline,  and  another  a  Committee 
on  Sunday-school  Evangelism. 

4.  The  relation  of  the  pastor  to  the  Sunday-school. 
Since  the  Sunday-school  is  integrally  a  part  of  the  Church, 
the  pastor  is  as  truly  pastor  of  the  Sunday-school  as  of  the 
Church  itself.  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  polity  recognizes 
this  and  makes  the  pastor  the  executive  head  of  the  Sunday- 
school,  and  clearly  defines  his  prerogatives  as  such.  This  re- 
lation should  be  cordially  recognized  by  officers  and  school^ 
and  every  facility  afiforded  the  pastor  to  exercise  a  helpful 
and  fruitful  ministry  in  that  department  of  the  Church  which 
offers  him  his  largest  spiritual  opportunity.  ^ 


THE  GRADED  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  ii 

II.    The  Graded  School 

I.  What  is  a  Graded  School?  There  are  few  schools 
but  what  have  from  the  beginning  made  some  approach  to 
grading.  Seldom,  indeed,  is  a  school  found  which  does  not 
All  Schools  separate  the  gray  heads  from  the  curly  locks.  Not 
are  to  some  Only  are  classes  formed,  as  a  rule,  with  more  or 
Extent  less  successful  attempt  to  group  together  those 

Graded  q£  approximately  the  same  age,  but  the  lesson 

helps  commonly  furnished  bear  titles  such  as  Intermediate 
Quarterly,  Senior  Quarterly,  which  thus  recognize  the  dif- 
ferent departments  from  beginners  to  adults.  Thus  it  would 
seem  at  first  glance  that  the  average  school  has  been  graded, 
both  as  to  pupils  and  as  to  lesson  materials.  But  as  a 
matter  of  fact,  this  is  only  a  seeming  gradation.  Age  alone 
is  not  a  proper  basis  for  grading  pupils.  As  for  the  cur- 
riculum, since  all  lesson  helps  of  the  uniform  series  use  the 
same  lesson  material  for  all  ages,  and  presuppose  almost 
entirely  the  same  teaching  methods  for  all,  they  can  be  said 
to  be  graded  only  in  name. 

In  order  that  a  school  may  be  properly  and  successfully 
graded  there  must  be,  in  both  theory  and  practice,  full  recog- 
nition of  the  following  principles : 

(a)  The  members  of  the  school  must  be  separated  into 
general  divisions  suggested  by  the  natural  periods  of  human 
^  life;  and,  secondly,  into  classes  upon  the  basis  of 

Completely  age,  physical  development,  and  mental  capacity. 
Graded  (b)    The  curriculum  must  be  so  planned  as 

School  ^Q   g^j^   ^■^^   lessons   to   the   mental   powers,   the 

interests,  and  the  spiritual  needs  of  the  pupils. 

(c)  The  teaching  methods  used  must  likewise  be  deter- 
mined by  and  suited  to  the  mental  development  and  spiritual 
needs  of  the  learners. 

(d)  Promotions  from  class  to  class  and  from  department 
to  department  must  be  upon  the  basis  of  a  standard  which 
has  regard  both  to  proficiency  in  the  curriculum  and  to  age 
and  physical,  mental,  and  spiritual  development. 


12         THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

2.  The  necessity  of  grading.  If  the  Sunday-school  is 
to  realize  its  highest  possibilities,  grading  is  not  a  matter  of 
opinion  or  choice,  but  a  necessity.  This  by  no  means  declares 
other  methods  a  failure;  "it  recognizes  the  good  already  at- 
tained, while  it  seeks  a  higher  good."  Grading  rests  upon 
these  established  principles: 

(a)  Human  life  is  by  nature  marked  off  into  certain  clearly 
de-fined  periods.  A  human  being  is  a  developing  creature 
with  needs  different  in  different  periods  of  his  developing 
qq^  life.  Grading  is  the  recognition  of  this  fact. 
First  Graded  No  Sunday-school  consists  of  pupils  all  of  one 
Human  age;  rather,  it  is  made  up  of  people  of  all  ages 
^*^"  and  in  all  stages  of  physical,  mental,  and  spir- 
itual growth.  Grading  is  the  means  of  adaptation  to  these 
existing  facts.  It  is  a  commonplace  of  child  study  to-day 
that  at  one  period  play  is  a  dominating  interest;  at  another, 
memory  power  reaches  its  culmination;  at  another,  biography 
makes  its  strongest  appeal;  at  still  another,  "the  chivalric 
ideals  and  great  altruistic  principles  of  Christianity  appeal 
with  almost  irresistible  force."  The  aptitudes,  the  needs,  the 
interests  of  the  different  periods  can  only  be  met  and  taken 
advantage  of  by  a  graded  system. 

(b)  In  all  teaching  the  mind  of  the  learner  is  now  the 
point  of  departure.  Teaching  has  to  do  with  two  principals, 
the  learner  and  the  truth  to  be  taught.  In  the  Sunday-school 
Teaching  '^^  ^^^  P^^^  almost  all  emphasis  has  been  placed 
Has  Regard  Upon  the  body  of  material  to  be  taught.  The 
First  to  the  lesson  System  has  been  planned  almost  entirely 
Being  who  is  ^j^j^  regard  to  the  Bible.  But  the  science  of 
to  be  Taught  a  u        u  •  j 

pedagogy   has   been   commg  more  and  more   to 

hold  that  effective  teaching  must  regard  first  the  mind  of 
the  learner,  and  consider  the  teaching  material  as  a  means 
of  reaching  desired  ends.  As  soon  as  this  point  of  view  is 
adopted,  grading  of  the  lesson  material  becomes  necessary. 
Only  this  secures  the  presentation  of  the  different  parts  of 
the  Bible  at  the  time  at  which  they  severally  make  their 
strongest  and  most  effective  appeal.    The  application  of  this 

3 


THE  GRADED  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  13 

principle  would  make  forever  impossible  the  presentation  to 
the  minds  of  little  children  of  lesson  material  which  is  fitted 
to  test  the  intellectual   acumen   of  college   graduates. 

(c)  The  Bible  itself  is  best  studied  in  the  order  of  its 
development.  The  uniform  lesson  system  ignores  both  the 
fact  that  the  Bible  is  a  body  of  sacred  literature  which  de- 
Different  veloped  slowly  through  long  centuries,  and  that 

Parts  of  Bible  it  is  a  gradual  and  progressive  revelation  of  the 
Represent  purpose  and  will  of  God  concerning  men.i  The 
Periods  of  graded  system  is  fitted  to  give  due  emphasis  to 
pmen  ^^^^^  these  facts.  A  graded  course  of  study  pre- 
senting the  Bible  practically  in  the  order  in  which  it  came 
into  existence,  which  order  is  singularly  fitted  to  the  periods 
of  mental  growth,  will  give  to  the  person  who  takes  the 
course  complete  and  connected  knowledge  of  the  Scriptures 
and  their  teaching  quite  impossible  of  impartation  by  means 
of  the  fragmentary,  patchwork  method  of  the  uniform  system. 

3.  Objections  to  grading.  It  may  be  well  to  consider 
briefly  the  most  common  objections  made  to  grading  the 
Sunday-school.     It  is  objected  that: 

(a)  Grading  will  do  away  with  uniformity,  that  is,  the 
use  of  the  same  lesson  by  the  whole  school  and  by  all 
schools  throughout  the  world.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that 
the  uniform  lesson  system  was  at  the  time  of  its  inaur^u- 
ration  a  great  improvement  over  the  previous  lack  of  sys- 
tem, and  that  it  has  been  attended  by  many  benefits  and 
advantages.  It  marked  a  distinct  stage  of  advance  in  Sunday- 
school  development,  but  it  has  served  its  day  and  must  now 
give  way  in  order  that  the  Sunday-school  may  become  still 
more  efhcient.  We  can  afiford  to  discard  a  good  for  a  still 
greater  good.  The  uniform  lesson  idea  appeals  to  sentiment, 
but  it  is  easily  discernible  that  the  strongest  influence  in  its 


1  "  If  the  Bible  is  the  history  of  a  progressive  revelation,  and  if,  for  this 
reason,  it  yields  its  best  results  alike  intellectually  and  religiously  when  it  is 
studied  with  due  reference  to  the  relation  of  part  to  part,  and  to  the  unfolding  of 
the  great  divine  truth  and  revelation  that  runs  through  it,  then  we  shall  give  our 
suffrages  to  the  graded  curriculum  in  preference  to  the  system  of  nniformity." 
—Burton  and  Mathews,  Principles  and  Ideals  for  the  Sunday-school,  p.  130. 


14         THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

favor  at  present  is  that  growing  out  of  the  fact  that  it  has 
been  financially  remunerative.  Surely  all  will  concede  that 
neither  mere  sentiment  nor  financial  gain  should  be  allowed 
to  stand  in  the  way  of  the  Sunday-school  becoming  a  greater 
power  for  religion  and  morals. 

(h)  Grading  requires  specialists.  This  objection,  frequently 
made,  is  not  valid.  The  untrained  teacher  has  at  least  as 
much  chance  of  doing  good  work  in  a  graded  as  in  an  un- 
graded school.  The  lesson  material  making  a  stronger  appeal 
to  the  interests  of  the  pupils  is  easier  to  handle.  Moreover, 
the  assignment  of  the  teacher  to  a  certain  grade  makes  it 
possible  for  him  to  become  a  specialist  by  attaining  mastery 
in  that  particular  field.^ 

(c)  It  is  too  difficult  to  effect  a  change.  The  difficulties 
are  likely  to  be  unduly  magnified.  A  graded  system  may  be 
introduced  so  gradually  as  to  occasion  little  notice  or  diffi- 
culty. When  the  advantages  of  a  graded  school  are  fully 
realized,  ways  may  be  found  to  overcome  what  difficulties 
really  exist.  It  is  only  necessary  that  the  plan  be  clearly 
understood  by  those  intimately  concerned  in  necessary  changes, 
and  that  they  be  brought  to  realize  the  force  of  the  reasons 
demanding  the  changes. ^ 

4.    Plan  of  graded  organization. 

(a)  The  natural  divisions  of  human  life.  The  great 
primary  divisions  of  human  life  have  always  been  recognized 
— childhood,  the  period  of  subjection,  imitation,  receptivity; 
youth,  the  period  of  awakening  powers;  manhood,  the  period 
of  developed  powers.  Psychology,  and  especially  child-study, 
has  made  equally  clear  secondary  natural  periods,  which,  ex- 
pressed in  terms  of  age,  are  from  one  to  three,  three  to  seven, 


l*'See  how  the  primary  teachers  grow;  they  are  head  and  shoulders 
above  the  rest  in  organization,  in  printed  helps,  in  sheer  pedagogic  efficiency, — 
why?  Because  they  have  accepted  a  narrow  location,  an  age  limit  of  pupils, 
and  maintained  it  through  the  years.  They  have  done  the  same  kind  of  work 
over  and  over  again  ;  of  course,  they  have  grown  efficient." — E.  M.  Fergusson. 

2"  Failures  have  come  only  when  the  attempt  has  been  made  to  force  on 
the  school  some  mechanical  contrivance  in  a  mechanical  manner.  Let  the 
principle  and  plan  be  fully  understood  by  all  workers."—//'.  F.  Cope. 


THE  GRADED  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  15 

seven  to  nine,  nine  to  twelve  or  thirteen,  thirteen  to  sixteen 
or  seventeen.     The  age  division  differs   with  the   sexes,  the 

^     ^.      .  male  sex  developing  more  slowly.     Even  within 

Grading  IS  r     <^  •    j-    -j      i 

Working  in  sex  limits  the  periods  vary  with  individuals,  de- 
Harmony  pendent  upon  the  rapidity  or  tardiness  of  the 
with  God  physical,  mental,  and  spiritual  development.    This 

fact  makes  the  age  standard  alone  an  unsatisfactory  one. 
These  natural  divisions  or  periods  of  human  life  form  the 
basis  of  the  organization  of  the  graded  Sunday-school. 

(b)  The  Divisions  of  the  Sunday-school.  On  the  foregoing 
basis  the  graded  Sunday-school  has  the  following  divisions: 

Age  Public  School  Grade 

Cradle  Roll 

f 3 

Beginner's  Department  -' 4 

1 5 

f 6 

Primary  Department  <| 7  2 

[ 8  3 

9  4 

10  5 

II  6 

12  7 

[....  13  8 

Intermediate  Department  -j  ....  14  9 

[....15  10 

r 16  II 

Senior  Department  ^ 17  12 

1 18 

Adult  Department Over  18. 

a.  Organized  Adult  Bible  Classes. 

b.  Teacher  Training  Department. 
Home  Department. 

[Note:  Some  authorities  would  include  pupils  16  3^ears 
old  in  the  Intermediate  Department ;  make  the  Senior  Depart- 
ment to  consist  of  those  17,  18,  19,  and  20,  and  the  Adult 
Department  to  include  those  over  20.]  3 


Junior  Department 


i6         THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

III.     Administration  of  the  Graded  School 

In  administration,  again,  to  a  certain  extent,  each  school 
must  work  out  its  own  problems.  Often  the  inadequate 
facihties    for   school   work   afforded   by   the   church   building 

„  .  .  ,  ^  forces  a  modification  or  entire  change  of  plans 
Principles  to  . 

Be  Regarded  which  Under  more  favorable  conditions  would 
in  Admin-  be  of  the  highest  standard.  Only  general  prin- 
istration  ciples    may    be    enunciated.      These    should    be 

regarded  in  practice  to  the  largest  extent  which  local  con- 
ditions allow. 

I.  Each  department  of  the  school  should  have  its  own 
room.  This  arrangement  promotes  an  ideal  organization  and 
administration  of  the  graded  curriculum  and  is  greatly  to 
g  .  be   desired   wherever   it   is   possible,   although   in 

Rooms  for  most  schools,  as  at  present  situated,  it  is  of 
Departments  course  impracticable.  These  departmental  rooms 
and  Classes  should  be  SO  planned  as  to  allow  the  placing  of 
the  various  grades  in  separate  rooms.  For  example,  the 
Primary  room  should  be  so  planned  as  to  be  easily  sub- 
divided into  three  smaller  rooms,  one  for  each  grade.  The 
division  of  departments  may  well  be  into  grades  only  up 
to  the  Intermediate  Department,  in  which  the  three  grades 
should  be  subdivided  into  classes.  That  is,  in  the  Beginners', 
Primary,  and  Junior  Departments,  the  grade  may  constitute 
the  unit,  but  in  the  Intermediate  Department  the  grade  should 
be  sub-divided  into  classes,  thus  placing  a  smaller  number 
of  pupils  under  the  care  of  a  teacher  and  allowing  an  oppor- 
tunity for  that  close  personal  association  which  is  so  es- 
sential during  the  crucial  years  of  adolescence.  The  inter- 
mediate room  should  therefore  be  large  enough  to  allow  a 
separate  class  room  to  each  class. 

It  is  quite  impossible  for  the  grade  or  class  to  do  its 
best  work  without  a  room  to  itself.  When  this  can  not 
be,  each  class  should  be  shut  off  by  screens  or  other  tempo- 


THE  GRADED  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  17 

rary  partitions.     In  some  cases  heavy  curtains  may  be  used 
to  advantage. 

2.  The  school  should  meet  together  for  brief  open- 
ing exercises.  An  assembly  room,  which  in  actual  practice 
will  most  often  be  the  church  auditorium,  should  be  used 
An  o  ening  ^°  assemble  the  "entire  school  at  the  opening  or 
Service  for  closing  of  the  school  session.  An  exception  may 
the  Entire  well  be  made  of  the  Beginners'  Department  and 
School  ^jgQ  q£  ^j^g  Primary  Department.  There  is  not 
unanimity  of  opinion  on  this  subject,  some  advocating  that 
each  department  hold  its  own  opening  and  closing  exercises. 
We  hold  to  the  former  plan.  This  gives  a  sense  of 
unity  and  binds  the  various  departments  and  organized 
classes  to  the  school  and  to  the  Church  in  a  manner 
highly  desirable.  These  exercises  should  be  very  brief, 
much  more  so  than  they  usually  are  at  present — as  a 
rule  not  more  than  fifteen  minutes  should  be  used  in 
this  way,  in  order  that  the  all  too  brief  teaching  period  may 
be  lengthened  as  much  as  possible.  The  first  essential  of 
these  exercises  is  promptness  in  beginning;  the  superin- 
tendent and  chorister  should  be  in  their  places  exactly  on 
time  to  open  the  school ;  better  five  minutes  early  than  one 
minute  late.  A  primary  purpose  of  these  exercises  is  worship, 
hence  reverence  must  be  cultivated.  The  manner  of  con- 
ducting the  exercises,  the  hymns  used,  the  words  of  the  leader, 
— all  should  combine  to  induce  the  spirit  of  reverence  and 
worship. 

3.  In  general,  teachers  should  remain  in  charge  of 
the  same  grade.  The  question  as  to  whether  the  teacher 
should  remain  in  one  grade  or  advance  from  grade  to 
Teachers  grade  with  the  class  has  been  sharply  debated 
for  in  literature  and  convention.  In  general,  there 
Certain  can  be  little  question  as  to  the  advisability  of 
Grades  ^j^g  teacher  remaining  stationary.  As  stated 
above,  it  enables  the  teacher  to  become  a  specialist  in  some 
one  particular  field.     Sunday-school  teachers  are  busy  people 

2  3 


i8         THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

and  can  neither  be  required  nor  expected  to  thoroughly  ac- 
quaint themselves  with  the  entire  field  of  Sunday-school  in- 
struction and  life.  They  may,  however,  reasonably  be  ex- 
pected in  time  to  become  adept  in  the  field  of  some  one 
department  or  grade.  The  objection  is  made  that  under  the 
old  system  the  class  became  attached  to  the  teacher  and  thus 
by  the  bond  of  personal  affection  M^ere  held  to  the  Sunday- 
school.  But  did  it  always  work  out  so  happily?  As  a  recent 
writer  puts  it :  "Suppose  the  teacher  goes  into  heaven,  into 
matrimony,  or  elsewhere.  Where  will  the  class  go?  They 
will  go — be  very  sure  of  that."  Whatever  weight  this  argu- 
ment has  is  counterbalanced  by  the  fact  that  passing  from 
one  teacher  to  another  aids  in  giving  to  the  pupils  a  distinct 
sense  of  advance  and  by  so  doing  promotes  interest  and  effort. 

An  exception  to  this  general  rule  may  be  made  in  the 
Intermediate  and  Senior  Departments.  Here  a  teacher  who 
has  shown  himself  capable  of  interesting  and  influencing  the 
boys  or  girls  should  be  allowed  to  continue  with  the  same 
class  through  the  three  grades  of  the  department.  Confidence 
of  the  pupils  in  their  teacher,  personal  friendship,  and  in- 
timate acquaintanceship  of  the  teacher  with  the  pupils  are 
at  this  period  indispensable.  These  can  only  exist  as  teacher 
and  class  may  be  together  for  more  than  one  year.  But  this 
continuance  of  the  same  teacher  with  the  class  should  not 
extend  beyond  the  limits  of  the  department. 

How  important,  in  view  of  the  light  shed  in  recent  years 
upon  the  period  of  adolescence,  that  the  teacher  who  is  to  be 
entrusted  with  the  moral  and  religious  guidance  of  young 
people  of  this  age  have  an  intimate  acquaintanceship  with 
the  most  important  literature  on  the  subject — such  an  ac- 
quaintanceship as  can  only  be  attained  by  giving  exclusive 
attention  to  this  one  department !  The  age  is  by  common 
consent  difficult  to  deal  with.  How  important,  again,  that  a 
man  who  has  come  through  experience  to  understand  and 
sympathize  with  adolescent  boys,  and  has  attained  power  to 
lead  and  mold  them,  be  allowed  the  opportunity  to  exercise 
continuously  this  much  needed  ministry !  3 


THE  GRADED   SUNDAY-SCHOOL  19 

4.  The  best  possible  facilities  and  equipment  should 
be  provided.  Altogether  too  little  attention  has  been  paid 
in  the  past  to  adequate  facilities  for  the  work  of  the  Sunday- 
school.  In  plans  of  architects  and  committees,  the  require- 
ments of  the  Sunday-school  have  been  ignored  or  given,  at 
the  best,  slight  consideration.     Along  with  increased  interest 

in  the  Sunday-school  and  improved  methods  must 
Building  go  better  facilities  and  more  complete  equipment, 

and  Equip-       Sunday-school  workers  themselves  have  a  right 
menttobe        ^q  ^^  heard  upon  this  subject,  and  should  insist 

on  the  Sunday-school  being  provided  for  in  ac- 
cord with  its  importance  to  the  Church  and  the  kingdom. 
Some  large  Sunday-schools  now  have  a  building  all  their  own, 
especially  designed  for  Sunday-school  work  and  elaborately 
equipped.  This  is  as  it  should  be.  No  longer  should  any 
Sunday-school  be  compelled  to  carry  on  its  work  in  one  room 
of  a  large  church,  and  that  a  dark,  damp,  illy  furnished 
basement. 

Careful  consideration  should  be  paid  to  securing  graded 
equipment,  proper  text-books  in  sufficient  number,  and  teach- 
ers who  have  been  prepared  for  their  work.  It  would  be 
unwise  for  any  school  to  endeavor  to  introduce  a  graded 
curriculum  without  attention  being  paid  to  these  essentials. 

Lesson  Outline: 

I.    Standard  of  Organization. 
II.   The  Graded  School. 

1.  What  is  a  graded  school? 

2.  The  necessity  of  grading. 

3.  Objections  to  grading. 

4.  Plan  of  graded  organization, 

III.   Administration  of  the  Graded  School. 

Topics  for  Special  Study: 

1.  Sunday-school  architecture. 

2.  Some  successful  graded  schools.  s 


20         THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

Topics  for  Class  Discussion: 

1.  To  what  extent  can  a  standard  of  organization  be 

fixed  for  all  schools  ? 

2.  State  the  ideal  standard. 

3.  What  officers  are  essential? 

4.  What  is  the  relation  of  the  pastor  to  the  Sunday- 

school? 

5.  What   principles   must   be  given   recognition   in   the 

fully  graded  school? 

6.  What  reasons  make  grading  necessary  to  the  best 

work? 

7.  State  and  answer  the  common  objections  to  grading. 

8.  Name   the    divisions    or    departments    of   a   graded 

school. 


CHAPTER  I 

FROM  BABE  TO  MAN 


CHAPTER  I 
FROM  BABE  TO  MAN 

I.    The  Fact  of  Growth 

"Who  made  you?"  is  the  first  question  of  the  old  Cate- 
chism; and  the  old  answer  was,  "God."  But  this  does  not 
express  our  thought  of  the  individual  of  to-day.  Of  course, 
Growth  the  ^^^^  origin  of  life  is  all  with  the  Creator.  So 
Most  Signifi-  are  the  substances  of  body  and  mind  and  all 
cant  Fact  the  laws  and  processes  of  their  ongoing.  Their 
of  Life  growth    itself    is    ordained    of    God.      He    might 

have  made  us  mature  men  and  women  at  once,  but  this  was 
not  His  way.  All  men  and  women  have  come  up  through 
the  gates  of  birth  and  have  been  carried  along  by  growth 
through  infancy  and  childhood  and  youth  to  maturity.  A 
little  girl  was  asked,  "Who  made  you?"  Her  answer  was, 
"God  made  me  so  long  (extending  her  hands),  and  I  grew 
the  rest."  She  had  a  glimpse  of  the  great  truth.  Over  a 
bridge  in  Scotland  is  written,  "God  and  we."  A  young  girl 
was  impressed  with  the  great  need  of  a  bridge  over  a  moun- 
tain torrent  at  this  point,  and  pleaded  and  toiled  for  it  so 
earnestly  and  piously  that,  when  at  last  her  prayers  were 
answered,  she  asked  to  have  that  legend  placed  upon  it.  The 
same  with  propriety  might  be  written  upon  every  successful 
human  life.  God  has  bidden  us  to  labor  with  Him  in  our 
own  creation.  He  has  made  fathers  and  mothers  and  teach- 
ers and  neighbors  partners  with  Him  in  the  making  of  men 
and  women.  It  is  not  His  will  that  we  should  become  mature 
at  once,  nor  that  all  the  responsibility  for  our  adult  char- 
acters should  rest  upon  Him. 

Growth  underlies  all  theories  and  practices  of  education, 
all   possibilities    of   character   and    usefulness,    all   appeals   of 

23  ^ 


24         THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

morals  and  religion,  and  all  inspirations  of  duty  and  destiny. 
If  it  were  not  for  the  universal  law  of  growth  there  would 
be  no  teacher-training,  nor  any  teachers  or  pupils  or  schools. 
It  challenges  our  ambition  as  it  introduces  us  to  our  great 
work. 

Luther  Burbank  says :  ''Growth  is  a  vital  process — an 
evolution — a  marshalling  of  vagrant,  unorganized  forces  into 
definite  forms  of  beauty,  harmony,  and  utility.  Growth  in 
some  form  is  about  all  that  we  ever  take  any  interest  in ; 
it  expresses  about  everything  of  value  to  us.  Growth  in 
its  more  simple  or  most  marvelously  complicated  forms  is 
the  architect  of  beauty,  the  inspiration  of  poetry,  the  builder 
and  sustainer  of  life,  for  life  itself  is  only  growth,  an  ever- 
changing  movement  toward  some  object  or  ideal.  Wherever 
life  is  found,  there  also  is  growth  in  some  direction.  The 
end  of  growth  is  the  beginning  of  decay." 

II.    The  Wonders  of  Growth 

The  world  is  full  of  wonders,  but  growth  monopolizes  the 
most  and  the  strangest  of  them.  As  far  above  the  clod  and 
the  stone  and  the  river  as  are  the  flower,  the  bird,  and  the 
Growth  Re-  "^^^  ^^^  ^^^  fascinations  of  growth  over  the 
veals  God's  statics  of  the  dead  earth.  The  teacher's  grand 
Process  of  inspiration  is  this  principle  that  rides  upon  the 
Creation  ^^p  q£  ^^^  world.    The  marvelous  transformations 

of  nature  are  divine.  They  are  made  by  the  power  of  God 
according  to  the  plans  of  God.  As  we  gaze  upon  any  child 
that  we  meet  on  the  street  we  may  behold  the  divine  creation 
in  process ;  we  may  see  man  being  made  in  the  image  of 
God.  And  every  living  thing  in  nature  adds  to  this  wonder. 
The  brown  sward  changing  into  the  turf  of  the  velvet  lawn; 
the  tiny  green  shoot  coming  by  and  by  to  the  tall  stalk  and 
the  full  corn  in  the  ear;  the  tgg,  the  nestling,  and  the  lark 
soaring  into  the  sky  with  its  matchless  song;  the  trees  of 
myriad  forests ;  the  cattle  upon  a  thousand  hills ;  and,  above 
all,  the  supreme  wonder  of  the  human  babe  passing  invisibly 


FROM  BABE  TO  MAN  25 

and  resistlessly  into  the  boy  and  the  man,  are  all  living  tokens 
to  us  of  the  present  God  working  busily  in  His  world.  And 
by  all  these  He  calls  us  to  His  aid.  The  teacher  is  admitted 
into  the  most  sacred  recesses  of  the  divine  laboratory. 

III.    The  Periods  of  Growth 

It  has  long  been  noted  that  human  life  seems  to  run 
somewhat  in  sevens.  Growth  is  far  from  uniform — and  this 
is  another  wonder.  We  might  have  expected  it  to  move  us 
Growth  along   like  the  clock-hand  over  the   dial   or  the 

Proceeds  stars    about    the    earth.      But    there    are    "three 

through  speeds"  to  the  car  of  life,  and  more.    There  are 

Fixed  stages  ^^^j-ry  times  and  there  are  slack  times.  There 
are  crises,  delicate  and  deep  and  fraught  with  momentous 
consequences.  These  come  at  the  sevens  of  the  years.  When 
the  child  is  seven  years  old  he  begins  to  lose  his  first  teeth 
and  to  get  his  second  set.  There  are  other  marked  physio- 
logical changes.  Among  them  is  the  frequent  disappearance 
of  infantile  diseases.  Perhaps  a  child  has  suffered  from  some 
ailment  that  no  treatment  or  nursing  had  any  effect  upon. 
It  is  a  baby-disease,  and  at  about  six  or  seven  years  of  age 
the  child  outgrows  it  and  it  permanently  disappears.  The 
doctor  may  say  of  sundry  humors  and  symptoms  and  pains, 
"Wait  until  his  milk  teeth  go  and  these  troubles  will  go 
with  them."  At  fourteen  years  of  age  come  on  the  capital 
changes  of  adolescence,  with  which  we  shall  be  mainly  occu- 
pied throughout  these  lessons.  At  twenty-one,  the  third  seven, 
the  physical  growth  is  about  accomplished.  At  forty-nine,  the 
seventh  seven,  comes  the  prime;  and  ten  sevens  compose  the 
threescore  years  and  ten,  the  conventional  measure  of  a  life- 
time. 

This  division,  however,  is  not  followed  in  the  educational 
scheme.  The  period  of  growth  is  more  closely  analyzed  and 
divided  here.  The  first  three  years  may  be  called  infancy. 
They  are  sometimes  referred  to  as  the  nursery  age.  From 
three  to  five  years  is  early  childhood.     These  are  also  called 


26         THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

the  kindergarten  years.  In  our  present  Sunday-school  grad- 
ing, children  of  this  age  are  called  beginners.  From  six  to 
eight  years  we  may  call  the  period  of  middle  childhood. 
They  are  the  primary  years  of  our  grading.  Later  child- 
hood, the  junior  grade,  covers  the  years  from  nine  to  twelve. 
The  intermediates  are  those  from  thirteen  to  fifteen,  the  period 
of  early  adolescence.  Middle  adolescence  may  be  reckoned 
from  sixteen  to  eighteen,  or  as  we  prefer  to  twenty,  which 
thus  practically  corresponds  with  the  senior  grade.  Later  ado- 
lescence extends  from  this  to  maturity,  say  twenty-four  or 
twenty-five  years.  All  the  years  from  twenty-one  on  are 
classed  as  adult  in  the  grading. 

IV.    Changes  After  Maturity 

Nor  does  the  body  settle  down  into  a  groove  even  after 
growth  has  been  accomplished.  There  are  incessant  changes 
of  all  kinds.  Organs  and  members  grow,  and  pause,  and 
Each  Part  grow  again,  and  decline.  They  do  not  keep  on 
Runs  together,  but  each  seems  to  run  a  course  peculiar 

its  Own  to  itself.     Dr.  G.  Stanley  Hall  tells  us  that  the 

Course  arteries  continue  to  grow  in  size  till  at  least  the 

age  of  sixty.  "At  birth  the  relation  of  the  heart  to  the 
arteries  is  as  twenty-five  to  twenty.  At  the  dawn  of  puberty 
it  is  as  one  hundred  and  forty  to  fifty,  and  in  full  maturity  it 
is  as  two  hundred  and  ninety  to  sixty-one."  Another  authority 
concludes  "that  the  kidneys  are  at  their  largest  in  the  third 
decade;  the  muscles,  skeleton,  intestines,  and  liver,  in  the 
fifth ;  the  heart  and  lungs  in  the  eighth.  From  which  it  seems 
that  almost  each  organ  has  its  youth,  maturity,  and  old  age, 
and  that  these  do  not  coincide  with  each  other  or  with  the 
stages  of  the  body  growth  as  a  whole.  The  motor  organs, 
as  the  heaviest,  give  to  growth  its  chief  character.  So  that 
what  we  call  maturity  is  the  period  of  their  greatest  develop- 
ment." The  most  striking  illustration  of  this  independent 
development  of  the  organs  is  in  the  most  important  of  them — 
the  brain.     Dr.  Hall  tells  us  that  this  master  organ  is  nearly 


FROM  BABE  TO  MAN  27 

done  growing  (in  weight  and  size)  at  six  years  of  age. 
During  the  fourth  year  alone  it  increases  more  than  it  will 
during  all  the  rest  of  life.  It  reaches  its  maximum  at  from 
twelve  to  fourteen  years.  This  early  maturing  of  the  brain 
is  one  of  the  most  significant  facts  in  physiology,  and  therefore 
in  education. 

V.    The  Seven  Ages  of  the  Child 

Thus  we  may  paraphrase  Shakespeare's  famous  theme. 
For,  taking  "child"  in  its  large  sense,  from  birth  to  full 
maturity,  we  count  seven  periods.     These  are  by  no  means 

artificial.  The  very  foundations  of  grading  rest, 
Descdbld  ^     °^  should  rest,  upon  reality.     If  at  any  time  they 

are  found  off  reality  they  should  be  replaced  by 
a  change  of  the  grading.  But  we  believe  that  there  are 
real  and  natural  variations  upon  which  these  grades  are 
based.  A  difference  calls  for  a  grade,  and  if  there  is  no 
difference  there  should  be  no  grade.  To  prolong  a  grade 
after  the  things  that  called  for  that  grade  have  passed  away 
is  to  invite  failure  in  the  teaching  pi;ocess ;  and  to  make  a 
new  grade  when  the  present  things  are  unchanged  is  also 
to  bid  for  failure.  Grading  thus  becomes  as  universal  as 
childhood  and  its  moods;  for  they  present  substantially  the 
same  phases  always  and  everywhere. 

I.  Infancy.  This  is  the  beginning.  The  child  lies,  a 
little,  breathing,  pulsating  body,  in  its  mother's  arms.  It  has 
little  mentality  at  first,  and  probably  no  consciousness  of  self. 
It  has  everything  to  learn,  and  it  has  the  nascent  faculties 
wherewith  to  learn  the  wonders  of  the  new  world  into  which 
it  has  been  born.  We  see  little  that  is  positive  or  individual 
yet.  Its  traits  are  passive  ones.  It  is  dependent,  open,  re- 
ceptive. A  half-dozen  of  its  most  prominent  dispositions  may 
be  restlessness,  curiosity,  imitation,  fun,  yearning,  and  appe- 
tite. These  and  all  the  rest  are  important  in  their  possi- 
bilities. They  are  not  transient  and  unrelated  traits  to  be 
obliterated  by  and  by.    They  are  germinal  traits  that  develop 


28         THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

into  all  that  follow.  He  who  knows  how  to  read  an  infant 
sees  far  more  than  restlessness  in  the  little  animated  mass 
that  "has  ten  thousand  springs  in  him  to  make  him  wiggle 
and  not  one  to  make  him  hold  still."  He  sees  a  nascent 
principle  that  under  the  mysterious  push  of  life  will  develop 
into  the  intelligent  activities  of  childhood,  the  well-directed 
energy  and  power  of  adolescence,  and  the  honorable  achieve- 
ments of  manhood.  These  characteristics  are  noticeable  in 
all  babies.  They  are  few,  but  they  may  serve  to  give  us  a 
mental  picture  of  the  first  stage  of  the  child. 

2.  Early  childhood.  From  four  to  five  years  a  great 
change  has  taken  place.  The  child  has  learned  a  whole 
language  and  feels  quite  at  home  in  the  world.  He  has 
begun  to  reveal  his  nature  and  to  gain  his  individuality. 
He  is  now  talking  a  good  deal,  and  watching  everybody  and 
everything  with  wide-open  eyes.  He  is  working  his  imi- 
tative faculties  hard,  for  this  is  the  way  he  learns  to  do 
things.  His  imagination  is  vivid  and  his  simple  remarks 
often  call  for  profound  interpretation.  He  has  a  compre- 
hensive creed,  for  it  includes  almost  every  person  and  thing. 
He  is  very  social  and  can  not  bear  to  be  alone.  His  home 
is  getting  small,  and  he  begins  to  look  forward  to  the  larger 
social  life  of  the  school. 

3.  Middle  childhood.  It  is  an  epoch  in  the  life  of 
the  child  when  he  first  leaves  his  home  for  the  school.  And 
there  are  often  tears  in  the  mother's  eyes,  and  new  petitions 
enter  into  her  prayers  as  she  sees  her  "baby"  go  out  into 
the  world.  But  the  child  is  a  babe  no  longer.  All  the 
traits  of  infancy  have  been  transformed.  They  have  no 
more  perished  than  the  seed  which  reappears  in  the  tiny 
plant.  The  infantile  restlessness  has  become  activity,  more 
or  less  purposeful  and  effective.  The  curiosity  of  the  infant 
has  become  inquiry.  The  number  of  questions  that  the  six- 
year-old  can  ask  is  amazing  and  often  distracting.  The 
baby's  imitation  has  taken  on  observation  and  is  guided  and 
amplified  by  this,  the  results  of  which  are  startling  at  times. 


FROM  BABE  TO  MAN  29 

This  propensity  of  imitation  has  led  many  such  a  child  to 
poison  himself  with  tobacco,  to  the  horror  of  his  parents. 
This  shows  the  power  of  the  pull  of  influence.  The  native 
humor  that  dimples  the  cheeks  and  laughs  in  the  eyes  of  the 
babe  has  developed  into  well-defined  play.  The  yearning 
of  the  infant  for  caresses  and  for  company  has  become 
manifest  in  the  marked  social  tendencies  of  the  boy;  and 
the  appetite,  both  bodily  and  mental,  now  shows  itself  in 
a  disposition  to  accept  in  unquestioning  acquiescence  every- 
thing that  he  is  told.  This  trustful  spirit  of  the  young 
child  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  things  in  the  world.  There 
are  few  fascinations  in  nature  like  it.  There  is  no  compli- 
ment that  a  man  or  woman  can  receive  like  the  upturned 
face  of  the  child  speaking  wonder  and  confidence.  This 
is  a  marvelous  age  for  sowing  the  good  seed — and  particu- 
larly for  impressing  reHgious  truth.  He  who  is  not  touched 
by  the  fascinations  of  these  children  is  callous  indeed.  Says 
Professor  Pattee:  "The  child  is  indeed  a  bit  of  the  king- 
dom of  heaven.  He  is  artless  and  unaffected;  he  is  will- 
ingly dependent;  he  thinketh  no  evil;  he  has  faith  in  all 
things;  he  loves  as  the  sun  shines  and  tells  his  love  with 
perfect  unconsciousness;  he  is  spontaneous  and  enthusias- 
tically optimistic.  It  is  the  child  alone  that  keeps  the  world 
sweet  and  hopeful.  Without  childhood  the  race  would  drift 
into  pessimism  and  hatred  and  despair." 

4.  Later  childhood.  From  nine  to  twelve  are  the  clos- 
ing years  of  childhood.  This  period  is  also  strongly  marked, 
and  it  foreshadows  the  coming  of  youth.  The  boy  is  rough 
and  thoughtless.  He  becomes  absorbed  in  his  play.  He 
looks  askance  at  refinement  and  has  to  be  persuaded  variously 
to  wash  his  face  and  comb  his  hair.  He  has  no  prejudice 
against  mud,  as  a  general  thing,  nor  against  water,  pro- 
vided it  is  not  in  the  bath.  He  is  loud  and  boisterous,  and 
likes  to  scuffle  and  push,  and  counts  a  day  without  a  fight 
as  a  lost  opportunity.  The  girl  is  a  good  deal  like  him, 
although   less   aggressive.     She   is   about   through   with   her 


so         THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

dolls,  and,  like  her  brother,  shows  preference  for  group 
games.  There  seems  to  be  a  repulsion  of  sex  in  this  period. 
She  "just  hates  boys,"  and  the  boys  taunt  and  tease  her. 
Both  boys  and  girls  are  reading  much  now.  It  is  said  that 
the  reading  age  begins  at  about  the  eighth  year.  It  is  long 
enough  since  they  have  learned  to  read  for  them  to  read 
fluently,  and  their  thoughts  are  beginning  to  take  hold  upon 
real  life,  which  makes  stories  of  great  men  and  great  events 
fascinating  to  them.  Their  minds  run  to  heroes  who  draw 
heavily  upon  their  admiration  and  furnish  them  with  ma- 
terials for  their  new  ideals. 

5.  Early  adolescence.  From  thirteen  to  fifteen  is  the 
age  of  the  greatest  crisis  of  growth.  There  is  usually  a 
rapid  bodily  growth,  with  the  accompanying  sex-differentia- 
tions. The  mind  also  undergoes  radical  transformations. 
New  emotions  are  born  as  childhood  disappears  in  the  by- 
gone years,  and  strange  hopes  and  fears  engage  the  soul. 
It  is  a  period  of  great  energy  and  independence.  The  de- 
pendent child  is  becoming  self-centered  and  self-reliant.  He 
is  beginning  to  study  his  own  problems  and  come  to  his 
own  conclusions  concerning  them.  And  he  comes  to  very 
positive  conclusions.  He  is  impatient  of  disagreements  and 
wants  to  fight  about  them.  In  boys  the  fighting  spirit  comes 
to  its  climax  here.  But  strong  friendships  are  as  marked 
as  strong  antagonisms.  We  hear  much  of  the  "gang"  and 
the  *'bunch"  at  this  time.  There  are  clinging  intimacies 
and  deathless  loyalties  and  profound  confidences  between 
the  chums  of  early  youth.  These  things  are  probably  en- 
hanced by  the  incipient  alienation  of  the  youth  from  his 
parents,  who  too  often  fail  to  understand  him  in  his  new 
character.  The  young  folks  enter  very  deeply  into  each 
others'  hearts — to  find  the  sympathy  that  they  so  keenly 
desire  and  fail  to  find  elsewhere. 

We  must  not  omit  mention  of  the  most  important  feature 
of  early  adolescence — its  religious  character.  With  all  the 
seemingly  untoward  phases  of  the  youth,  there  is  neverthe- 

8 


FROM  BABE  TO  MAN  31 

less  a  strong  current  which  draws  him  toward  truth  and 
worship  and  God.  It  is  never  to  be  forgotten  that  most 
conversions  of  individuals  occur  within  this  period.  With 
all  the  self-assertion  and  large  denials  of  youth  there  is 
also  a  profound  response  in  his  soul  to  the  appeals  of  faith 
and  truth  and  the  winsomeness  of  Jesus  Christ.  Though 
it  be  a  period  of  doubt,  it  is  more  a  period  of  faith. 

6.  Middle  adolescence.  The  years  from  seventeen  to 
twenty  are  the  fateful  years.  In  these  the  decisions  for  life 
and  for  destiny  are  made  and  sealed.  The  sexes  turn  toward 
each  other  in  sweet  and  pure  affection,  and  as  maturity 
approaches  the  young  people  tend  toward  their  permanent 
places  in  the  home,  in  the  Church,  in  business,  and  in  society. 
It  is  this  period  that  we  shall  occupy  ourselves  with  in  the 
following  lessons. 

7.  Later  adolescence.  The  youth  comes  of  age  at  twenty- 
one,  but  he  is  not  yet  mature.  He  requires  three  or  four 
years  more  in  which  to  settle  into  his  permanent  positions. 
During  these  years  his  doubts  find  their  solution  in  a  sane 
and  permanent  faith,  and  his  earlier  faith  ripens  into  potent 
convictions.  At  least,  this  is  the  ideal  and  the  natural 
process.  Longings  and  hopes  and  opinions  and  tendencies 
become  fixed  principles  that  rule  the  life  and  form  the  char- 
acter. The  period  of  growth  comes  to  its  close.  The  child 
puts  away  childish  things,  for  he  has  become  a  man. 

VI.    The  Inner  Transformations 

We  have,  then,  something  different  from  a  simple  case 
to  deal  with  in  education.  It  is  more  than  complicated. 
For  the  child  seems  to  be  not  one,  but  many,  through  his 
^jjg  changing  years.     "We  have   a   different   animal 

Complex  to   learn  in   every  period,"   says   one;   and   that 

Task  of  means  a  whole  string  of  animals  in  all.     Pattee 

Education  p^^g  j^  ^^^s .  <<Sq  gj-gat  are  the  changes 
through  these  periods  that  the  child  seems  to  pass  through 
transformations   almost   as   marked   as   those   in  the   life   of 


32         THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

the  butterfly.  His  entire  nature  seems  to  be  re-created  two 
or  three  times.  More  than  once  his  whole  horizon  changes. 
The  infant  is  in  the  age  of  myth  and  story;  the  boy  and  girl 
are  in  the  age  of  biography  and  history;  the  youth  has 
reached  the  stage  of  literature  and  morals ;  the  young  man 
and  woman  are  on  the  plane  of  religion  and  ethics.  These 
are  the  four  stages  in  the  history,  not  only  of  the  individual, 
but  also  of  mankind."  Here  is  the  basis  of  the  demand 
for  grading:  we  grade  our  work  because  God  has  graded 
the  child.  We  change  when  He  changes.  When  He  calls 
we  follow.  Every  transformation  of  our  subject  lays  a  new 
necessity  upon  us.  We  have  a  new  kind  of  teaching  to  do 
and  to  learn  to  do.  Skill  and  success  in  one  grade  will  not 
answer  for  a  different  grade.  Even  he  who  is  called  "a 
born  teacher"  because  of  his  success  with  one  grade  may 
fail  utterly  with  another.  So  clear  are  these  differentiations 
and  so  sharp  are  the  lines  between  them  that  the  teacher's 
endowments  are  involved  in  them. 

VII.     The  Continuing  Personality 

And  yet  there  is  no  change  of  the  person.  He  is  the 
same  through  all  these  transformations.  And  the  native 
traits  and  endowments  persist,  though  they  are  transformed. 
The  Person-  Here  is  an  important  note  for  all  who  would 
aiity  Persists  teach.  Only  he  who  understands  the  mind  can 
Throughout  minister  to  it;  and  only  he  understands  a  mental 
^^*®*  trait  who  knows  at  least  something  of  its  his- 

tory. For  instance,  we  can  not  understand  the  activity  of 
the  child  by  any  amount  of  observation  of  it  alone.  It 
is  only  by  correlating  this  with  the  restlessness  of  the  in- 
fant, from  which  it  grew,  and  the  triumphant  achievements 
of  mature  life,  toward  which  it  is  tending,  that  we  are  able 
to  deal  intelligently  with  it. 

We  venture  upon  the  use  of  a  diagram  to  illustrate 
this,  understanding  that  nothing  so  hard  and  crude  as  lines 
and  words  can  more  than  partially  symbolize  the  mobility  and 


T=DIAORAMnl 
lUUyrRATlNG 

DimSmim 

or 

GERMINAL  "reAITS; 


-%{ 


'isr 


34         THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

the  freedom  of  the  ebullient  soul.  This  figure  is  an  attempt 
to  trace  a  half-dozen  of  the  common  traits  of  infancy  through 
their  normal  run  to  maturity,  noting  their  phases  in  these 
and  three  intermediate  stages. 

The  restlessness  of  the  babe  becomes  the  activity  of  the 
child.  In  early  adolescence  it  appears  as  more  intelligent 
energy;  in  later  adolescence,  as  real  power  to  grapple  with 
difficulties  and  do  things,  and  in  maturity  it  is  represented 
by  achievement,  which  is  the  product  of  all  that  for  which 
the  perpetual  motion  of  the  baby  stands.  It  is  easy  to  see 
what  should  be  done  with  a  parent  who  sees  nothing  in  a 
child's  trying  gymnastics  but  a  nuisance  to  be  suppressed— 
perhaps  with  deadly  drugs! 

In  like  manner,  the  curiosity  of  the  infant  passes  on 
into  the  spirit  of  inquiry  which  is  so  interesting  and  so 
promising  in  the  child.  This  gives  place  to  the  well-known 
zest  for  examining  into  things  that  marks  the  early  adolescent 
and  the  studious  and  critical  investigation  of  later  youth. 
Some  great  original  scientists  begin  their  work  in  this  age. 
The  end  of  the  babe's  curiosity  in  maturity  is  intelligence, 
experience,  and  perhaps  invention  and  discovery. 

The  imitativeness  that  amuses  us  and  teaches  us  so  much 
in  the  little  child  induces  bright  and  close  observation  later, 
which  reacts  and  produces  an  intelligent  choosing  and  fol- 
lowing of  the  best  examples.  The  ideals  of  early  youth  be- 
come the  habits   that   ripen   into  permanent   character. 

It  has  been  noted  that  the  normal  infant  has  a  sense 
of  humor.  The  fun  in  the  baby  eyes  is  not  an  accident. 
It,  too,  is  a  germ  which  develops  into  manly  things.  Its 
next  phase  is  the  play  of  the  child,  which  passes  over  into 
the  more  elaborate  games  of  the  youth.  By  athletics,  in  the 
diagram,  we  mean  the  higher  forms  of  sport  which  intro- 
duce the  social  element  of  team-play,  with  sacrifice  features 
and  other  elements  that  mature  in  the  struggles  and  compe- 
titions of  business  and  professional  life. 

The   yearning   of   the   babe    for    its    mother's    arms,    the 

3 


FROM  BABE  TO  MAN  35 

cuddling  and  caressing  and  the  outcry  when  left  alone, 
point  to  the  associations  and  companionships  of  later  years. 
They  are  as  natural  as  breathing,  and  prepare  the  way  for 
the  foundation  of  those  permanent  friendships  in  later 
adolescence  that  not  only  form  the  basis  for  the  family  by 
and  by,  but  also  for  business  partnerships  and  the  broader 
fraternities  of  society  in  commimity  life  and  in  philanthropic 
enterprises. 

One  of  the  most  marked  features  of  the  little  life  is 
its  appetite,  and  this  is  of  the  mind  as  conspicuously  as  of 
the  body.  It  soon  becomes  the  sweet  openness  of  the  credu- 
lous child,  so  eager  and  so  confiding  that  he  gives  his  true 
teacher  the  sharpest  mental  stimulus.  But  the  intelligent 
element  steals  into  the  growing  years,  and  soon  we  have 
faith.  Herein  is  a  wonder:  the  new-born  faith  of  early 
adolescence  sweeps  the  large  majority  of  all  believers  into 
the  Church  in  a  strangely  brief  period.  And  still  a  greater 
wonder — the  skepticism  of  later  adolescence,  which  is  as 
unexpected  as  it  is  alarming.  It  is  not  abnormal,  however, 
being  but  a  function  of  the  new  sense  of  freedom  and  of 
intellectual  ambition.  Perhaps  it  is  but  skepticism  in  seeming, 
and  in  reality  an  odd  variation  of  faith.  An  indication  of 
this  is  the  well-known  tendency  of  adolescent  doubt  to 
vanish  into  sound  religious  convictions  that  rule  the  whole 
subsequent  life. 

VIII.  The  Meaning  of  Growth 

The  great  lesson  should  appear  here:  growth  is  not  for 
itself,  but  for  education.  God  has  ordained  a  plastic  period 
In  Growth  ^^^^  *^^  ^^^^  ^^^  ^^  molded  into  the  right  shape 
is  the  Pos-  before  it  permanently  hardens.  Growth  means 
sibiiity  and  teaching  and  training :  it  means  all  the  wise  and 
Significance  tender  nurture  that  love  can  inpsire  and  sym- 
pathy direct.  Says  Burbank,  the  great  plant- 
wizard  :  "All  animal  life  is  sensitive  to  environment,  but 
of   all   living  things   the   child   is   the   most   sensitive.      Sur- 


36         THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

foundings  act  upon  it  as  the  outside  world  acts  upon  the 
plate  of  a  camera.  ...  A  child  absorbs  environment.  It 
is  the  most  susceptible  thing  in  the  world  to  influence,  and 
if  that  force  is  applied  rightly  and  constantly  when  the  child 
is  in  its  most  receptive  conditio-n,  the  effect  will  be  pro- 
nounced, immediate,  and  permanent." 

God's  creation  of  men  and  women,  then,  is  a  process; 
long,  but  limited;  and  broad,  yet  drawing  toward  a  crisis. 
It  is  the  solemn  verdict  of  all  experience  that  few  lives  are 
permanently  changed  after  maturity.  What  we  do  we  must 
do  quickly. 

Lessof^i  Outline: 

I.   The  Fact  of  Growth. 
II.   The  Wonders  of  Growth. 

III.  The  Periods  of  Growth. 

IV.  Changes  After  Maturity. 

V.   The  Seven  Ages  of  Childhood. 
VI.   The  Inner  Transformations. 
VII.   The  Continuing  Personality. 
VIII.   The  Meaning  of  Growth. 

Topics  for  Special  Study: 

1.  The  significance  of  adolescence. 

2.  The  recapitulation  theory,  the  reappearance  of  pe- 

riods of  racial  development  in  the  individual. 

Topics  for  Class  Discussion: 

1.  Possible  methods  of  creation. 

2.  State  the  periods  of  human  growth. 

3.  Likenesses   and  differences   of  individuals. 

4.  The  meaning  of  infancy. 

5.  What  becomes  of  the  traits  of  infancy? 

6.  The  significance  of  childhood. 

7.  What  is  adolescence? 

8.  What  ig  meant  by  the  "persistence  of  personality?" 

9.  The  chief  significance  of  growth. 


CHAPTER  II 

MIDDLE  YOUTH 


CHAPTER  II 
MIDDLE  YOUTH 

I.  The  Period  We  Study 

We  call  it  middle  youth.  It  is  the  sixth  of  the  "seven 
ages"  of  the  child,  extending  from  the  age  of  seventeen  to 
twenty.!  It  has  various  names,  such  as  "middle  adolescence," 
Various  "social    adolescence,"    "later    adolescence,"    and 

Names  "adolescence."     The  last  name  is  used  by  those 

^^^^  who  call  the  years  from  thirteen  to  sixteen  "pre- 

adolescence."  The  preceding  name  is  applied  by  those  who 
divide  adolescence  into  two  parts  only,  and  include  these 
years  with  the  following  few.  But  the  precise  name  is  not 
important.  We  are  more  interested  to  know  that  there  is 
substantial  agreement  as  to  the  qualities  of  this  vital  and 
critical  age.  It  is  the  most  characteristic  of  the  three  periods 
of  youth,  and  perhaps  the  most  difficult  to  handle  of  all 
the  periods.  If  it  is  the  most  important  period  of  adolescence, 
it  becomes  the  most  important  period  of  the  entire  life. 

II.  Physical  Phenomena 

The  body  now  shows  marked  changes  and  peculiarities. 
The  boy  is  no  longer  a  boy  in  size  or  voice  or  manner. 
Marked  ^^  ^^   growing  faster  than  ever  before.     Prob- 

Physical  ably  he  is  big  and  strong,  with  a  new  voice  that 

Charac-  sounds  deeper  and  harsher  than  his  father's.    He 

tenstics  j^^g  ^Q  shave  his  beard,  and  he  dresses  like  the 

(other)  men.  He  may  be  awkward  in  the  house,  but  he  is 
lithe  and  swift  in  the  gymnasium  or  on  the  field.     He  has 


1  The  Senior  Department  age  according  to  the  Board  of  Sunday-Schools' 
standard  is  sixteen  to  eighteen  inclusive.  For  the  purposes  of  this  book,  how- 
ever, we  prefer  to  treat  of  the  larger  period,  from  seventeen  to  twenty  inclusive. 

39  ^ 


40         THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

splendid  powers  of  effort  and  of  endurance.  He  is  found 
in  large  numbers  in  all  armies  of  the  world.  Every  college 
is  made  up  largely  of  these  youths,  and  athletics  flourish 
among  them,  sometimes  even  to  the  neglect  of  their  studies. 
His  features  often  change  so  that  absence  of  a  few  years 
makes  recognition  difficult.  This  is  due  to  the  rapid  growth  of 
the  bones  that  give  shape  and  expression  to  the  face. 

The  girl  has  become  a  woman.  She  has  lost  the  round- 
ness of  childhood  and  passed  beyond  the  angularity  of  the 
following  years.  She  now  attains  to  womanly  form  and 
feature,  and  she  "does  up"  her  hair.  Her  gowns  lengthen 
and  carry  more  tokens  of  the  dressmaker's  art.  She  is 
called  a  young  lady,  and  she  "comes  out."  She  is  about 
grown  up,  though  she  is  not  wholly  sure  that  she  approves 
of  it. 

III.    An  Age  of  Activity 

This  is  an  age  of  extraordinary  activity,  both  of  body 
and  mind.  All  kinds  of  things  involving  energy  appeal  to 
it.  Young  men  plunge  into  baseball  and  football  as  if  their 
Physical  ^^^^^  depended  upon  it.     They  take  long  tramps, 

Energy  they  hunt  and  fish  and  golf  and  row  and   sail 

is  Un-  and  swim  and  march  and  drive  horses  and  motor 

bounded  ^,^j.g      'pj^gy   delight   in   races   and   all   kinds   of 

contests.  Their  outlay  of  strength  is  astonishing  and  often 
alarming.  Young  women  were  formerly  supposed  to  be 
rather  quiet  creatures,  remaining  indoors  most  of  the  time, 
and  protecting  their  complexions  carefully  when  they  ven- 
tured out.  But  nowadays  they  are  becoming  another  sort. 
They  vie  with  their  brothers  in  open-air  exercises.  We  see 
them  in  summer  bare-headed  and  bare-armed,  sun-browned 
and  strong,  attending  their  companions  of  the  other  sex  in 
most  of  their  recreations.  They  are  gay  and  tireless.  They 
will  picnic  all  day  and  dance  all  night.  It  is  hard  to  keep 
them  within  bounds.  They  do  not  seem  to  know  what  weak- 
ness or  weariness  is. 

8 


MIDDLE  YOUTH  41 

The  youth  inclines  to  surrender  himself  exclusively  to 
the  thing  that  claims  his  interest.  For  the  time  it  possesses 
him.  Pattee  says :  "He  talks  much  now  of  specialties.  Paul's 
text,  This  one  thing  I  do,'  appeals  to  him.  He  throws  him- 
self with  tremendous  energy  into  whatever  he  does.  The 
college  athlete  works  at  his  training  for  months  and  even 
years  with  an  intensity  that  one  may  look  for  in  vain  else- 
where. Men  like  Galileo,  Weber,  Beethoven,  Wilberforce, 
and  Michael  Angelo  did  much  of  their  best  work  before 
they  were  twenty."  George  Bentham  was  a  skilled  botanist 
at  sixteen.  Sir  William  Blackstone  wrote  the  "Lawyer's  Fare- 
well to  His  Muse"  at  eighteen.  Lord  Byron  was  famous  at 
nineteen  by  his  writings.  Many  of  the  splendid  things  that 
have  blessed  the  world  have  been  done  by  young  people. 
When  turned  into  the  right  channels,  this  activity  becomes 
a  mighty  power  for  good.  Far  more  of  the  world's  work 
than  we  are  likely  to  realize  whhout  thinking  upon  it  is 
accomplished  by  3'oung  men  twenty  years  old  and  under. 
They  are  found  bearing  what  seem  to  be  premature  responsi- 
bilities in  stores  and  banks  and  railroads  and  newspaper 
offices;  but  they  are  there,  and  great  interests  are  entrusted 
to  their  hands.  Their  strong  vitality  and  abounding  energy 
is  in  demand  almost  everywhere. 

IV.    An  Adventurous  Age 

The  child  is  bound  to  his  home  and  bounded  by  his 
home.  Here  he  lives  and  moves  and  has  his  being.  But 
the  youth  seeks  a  wider  range.     He  has  little  sense  of  time 

or  distance.  Some  day  a  son  walks  into  the 
Restlessness    home  and  says,  in  a  matter-of-fact  way,  "Well, 

I  have  thrown  up  my  job."  The  surprised  father 
asks  why,  and  the  answer  is,  "I  am  going  to  California — 
start  to-morrow."  And  he  goes.  Perhaps  he  is  not  seen  at 
home  again.  The  young  man  starts  for  the  Coast  or  for 
Chile  or  Australia  or  South  Africa  with  startling  eagerness, 
&nd   often   with  little  that   we  consider   substantial   to   start 

? 


42         THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

upon.  Multitudes  of  young  men  poured  into  the  frightful 
soHtudes  of  Alaska  when  gold  was  found  there,  and  many 
more  would  have  gone  thither  if  they  could.  In  the  public 
places  of  great  cities  naval  officers  stand  ready  to  enlist  re- 
cruits for  the  navy.  One  of  their  chief  inducements  is  "a 
great  chance  to  see  the  world,"  and  this  entices  many  youths. 
Home  has  suddenly  become  homely  and  humdrum,  and  al- 
most anything  novel  and  romantic  is  able  to  draw  the  thought- 
less boy  away.  He  sees  no  peril,  and  shrinks  from  no  hard- 
ships. We  can  scarcely  imagine  anything  more  to  be  dreaded 
and  avoided  than  war.  Yet  our  armies  that  run  to  the  bugle's 
alarm  are  mostly  young  men.  It  is  hard  to  realize  it,  but  al- 
most half  of  the  men  that  enlisted  in  the  Union  army  during 
the  late  war  were  eighteen  years  of  age  or  under.  So  say  the 
statistics  just  published.  The  total  number  of  enlistments  was 
2,778,300.  Less  than  one-third  of  this  whole  number  were 
twenty-one  years  old.  A  little  less  than  one-third  were  six- 
teen or  under.  There  were  1,500  aged  fourteen  and  under, 
with  225  no  older  than  twelve,  and  25  not  beyond  ten  years ! 
The  same  spirit  moves  the  young  woman.  She  is  apt  to  be 
restless  and  discontented.  She  says,  "O,  if  I  could  only  get 
away  somewhere  and  see  something!  I  am  tired  of  being 
stuck  down  in  this  stupid  place,  where  everybody  is  so  slow, 
and  everything  is  dead."  She  is  continually  scheming  to  go 
somewhere,  and  the  farther  the  better.  Perhaps  she  throws 
the  household  into  consternation  some  day  by  announcing 
that  she  has  engaged  herself  to  be  married  to  a  fancy  young 
man,  who  has  only  been  about  town  a  few  weeks,  and  that 
she  is  going  to  a  new  home  a  thousand  miles  away.  The  very 
spirit  of  the  vikings  seems  to  live  again  in  our  adventurous 
young  people. 

V.    The  Age  of  Individuation 

It  seems  almost  necessary  to  use  a  long  word  here,  but  it 
is  not  a  hard  one.  We  mean  by  it  the  rapid  development  of 
those  traits  and  choices  that  make  one  an  individual.     Our 


MIDDLE  YOUTH  43 

adolescent  may  have  had  a  mind  of  his  own  from  the  cradle- 
time,  but  he  has  not  been  as  distinctly  marked  out  from  his 
companions  before  as  he  is  now.  He  is  striking  out  into  what 
we  call  a  character,  and  this  will  be  his  for  the  rest  of  his 
life.  For  this  freedom  is  necessary,  and  this  he  is  finding  and 
using.  The  bonds  that  have  kept  him  close  to  his  parent  and 
Individuality  teachers  are  slackening.  He  is  thrown  more  and 
Becomes  more  Upon  his  own  resources — and  he  is  not  dis- 

Fixed  posed  to  resist  this  tendency.     The  old  ties  seem 

to  loosen  before  the  new  ones  form,  and  herein  is  the  capital 
peril  of  adolescence.  For  a  time  the  young  man  is  adrift. 
He  is  attached  nowhere.  He  thinks  for  himself,  independently 
of  everybody  and  everything.  He  consults  his  own  desires. 
He  tears  up  many  things  by  the  roots.  He  is  anything  but 
docile.  It  is  even  dangerous  to  try  to  give  him  advice.  To 
be  his  own  master  is  a  new  thing,  and  it  exhilarates,  if  not 
intoxicates  him.  Fie  gets  this  freedom  before  he  is  old  enough 
to  get  experience.  He  must  handle  the  rudder  on  his  first 
voyage. 

VI.    The  Criminal  Age 

As  this  is  being  written  the  papers  are  telling  of  two  strik- 
ingly similar  crimes  perpetrated  in  different  parts  of  this 
country.  In  one  case,  both  the  president  and  the  cashier  of 
a  bank  were  shot  down  in  cold  blood,  and  in  the  other  case 
one  man  was  killed,  and  another  seriously  wounded.  In  both 
cases  the  object  of  the  crimes  was  the  robbery  of  a  bank,  and 
the  criminals  were  mere  boys,  about  seventeen  years  of  age. 
Criminal  In-  ^^  ^^^  shown  that  they  had  been  gorging  their 
stincts  Often  minds  with  stories  of  fictitious  crimes  found  in 
Become  vile  novels.     These  had  so  inflamed  their  imag- 

Dominant  inations  that  they  rushed  off  to  rob  and  kill 
somebody.  Now,  these  boys  are  not  exceptional  cases :  they 
are  even  typical.  When  we  think  of  robbers  and  burglars 
we  naturally  picture  a  burly  villain  of  mature  years ;  and 
there  are  some  such.     But  the  fact  is  that  most  criminals  are 


44         THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

young  men,  or  began  as  young  men.  Over  half  the  inmates 
of  reformatories,  jails,  and  prisons  in  this  country  are  uhder 
twenty-five  years  of  age;  or,  according  to  some  authorities, 
under  twenty-three!  Judge  Lindsey  makes  this  statement  as 
an  argument  for  the  reformation  of  our  methods  of  criminal 
procedure  and  punishment,  which  is  sorely  needed  for  this 
very  reason.  Adolescents  should  not  be  treated  as  hardened 
criminals  in  any  case  by  a  civilized  government.  We  have 
used  the  phrase  at  the  head  of  this  paragraph  deliberately. 
An  English  prison  commission  not  long  ago  reported  to 
Parliament  that  the  age  of  sixteen  to  twenty  is  the  essentially 
criminal  age.  The  very  period  of  our  study  is  the  time  when 
the  criminal  instincts  develop,  and  criminal  habits  are  formed. 
He  who  passes  his  twentieth  year  innosent  is  tolerably  safe. 
The  Earl  of  Shaftesbury,  after  long  study,  declared  that  not 
two  out  of  any  hundred  criminals  in  London  had  formed  the 
habits  that  led  to  criminality  after  the  twentieth  year.  We 
are  all  familiar  with  the  vicious  gangs  of  boys  in  our  large 
cities  that  are  a  terror  to  the  police.  They  are  so  bold  and 
so  sly  that  it  is  almost  impossible  to  catch  them  or  to  put  a 
stop  to  their  outrages.  The  "gas  house  gang,"  on  the  East 
Side  of  New  York,  has  lately  been  poisoning  horses  to  an 
alarming  extent,  and  the  authorities  are  powerless  against  it. 
The  same  nefarious  gang  has  numerous  outrages  of  all  sorts 
to  its  account,  including  rrrurder.  The  street  is  the  devil's 
school,  and  it  is  full  of  learners,  who  are  nearly  all  adoles- 
cent boys  and  girls.  Habits  of  vice  and  uncleanness  are  not 
started  in  mature  life.  It  has  been  stated  by  a  high  medical 
authority  that  nearly  half  of  the  drunkards  began  to  drink 
between  sixteen  and  twenty-one.  Oppenheim  says  that  be- 
tween sixteen  and  twenty-one  years  indictable  crime  is  more 
frequent  than  at  any  other  time  of  life.  The  teacher  of  youth 
can  not  be  indifferent  to  these  tendencies. 


MIDDLE  YOUTH  45 

VII.    Companionship 

The  social  instincts  have  become  very  strong  in  this  period. 
Not  only  is  this  seen  in  clubs  organized  for  outdoor  games, 
but  in  many  other  organizations  of  every  kind,  and  for  every 
purpose.  The  youth  does  very  little  alone.  He  naturally 
draws  others  about  him,  or  attaches  himself  to  others.  The 
"gang  spirit"  of  earlier  years  appears  now  as  the  "club  spirit," 
the  organization  under  more  rigid  rule,  and  for  more  worthy 
ends.  The  teacher  notes  this  because  it  means  that  example 
is  increasingly  powerful  now,  and  because  he  is  admonished 
that  he  will  not  win  by  dealing  with  his  class  as  individuals. 
He  must  become  an  adept  in  handling  an  organization.  Per- 
haps he  will  form  and  maintain  one  for  the  sake  of  its  value 
to  him  as  an  agency. 

The  former  sex-repulsion  has  vanished.  It  was  an  odd 
phenomenon,  and  will  never  return.  Now  the  youth  and  the 
Attraction  maid  drift  naturally  into  each  other's  society.  If 
of  the  Sexes  they  are  healthy  and  innocent,  they  will  be 
Becomes  ashamed  neither  of  the  other.     It  is  related  of  a 

Pronounced  clergyman,  the  happy  father  of  a  charming  daugh- 
ter, that  while  preparing  his  Sabbath  discourse  he  was  sud- 
denly called  from  his  desk,  leaving  unfinished  this  sentence : 
"I  never  see  a  young  man  of  splendid  physique,  and  the  prom- 
ise of  a  glorious  manhood  almost  realized,  but  my  heart  is 
filled  with  rapture  and  delight."  His  daughter  happening  to 
enter  the  study  saw  the  sermon,  and  read  the  words.  Sitting 
down,  she  wrote  underneath :  "My  sentiments,  papa,  exactly." 
As  there  should  be  no  impure  motive  in  the  association  of 
young  people,  so  there  should  be  no  false  pretenses.  The 
youth  may  frankly  admire  the  maid,  and  the  maid  need  not 
pretend  that  the  young  manhood  that  God  made  for  her  is 
an  indifferent  interest  to  her.  Before  very  long  the  mating 
years  will  come,  and  the  only  guarantee  of  a  happy  home  is  an 
affection  that  is  based  upon  a  real  acquaintance.  There  should 
be  abundant  opportunity  for  this,  and  it  should  begin  in  time. 
Of  all  discords,  that  of  unfortunate  matrimony  is  the  worst. 


46         THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

VIII.    The  Emotional  Age 

Like  the  affections,  the  emotions  are  active  and  powerful 
in  this  period.  Sometimes  they  seem  out  of  all  proportion 
to  the  exciting  cause.  Listen  to  almost  any  group  of  young 
girls:  they  are  not  merely  talking.  They  are  laughing  and 
screaming  in  unrestrained  glee.  And  what  is  it  about?  A 
"darling  of  a  dog,"  perhaps,  or  a  "dream  of  a  dress,"  or  a 
joke  upon  the  teacher,  or  a  retort  upon  a  boy.  And  the  boys? 
Note  their  immoderate  yelling  upon  almost  any  little  occasion. 
It  may  be  slightly  removed  from  inanity  by  being  made  a 
class,  or  school,  or  college  yell,  but  the  noise  is  always  taken 
good  care  of.  Note  also  the  extravagant  emotions  let  loose 
upon  the  athletic  field,  or  when  a  victorious  team  returns.  It 
seems  strange,  but  we  must  remember  that  it  is  natural,  and 
not  to  be  scorned.  A  gushing  miss  is  not  far  from  her  right 
place — if  she  does  not  gush  too  much;  and  a  boisterous  boy 
is  not  wholly  a  monster.  Our  point  of  view  makes  a  great 
difference  in  our  judgments  in  these  cases. 

It  is  sadly  common,  however,  for  the  emotions  and  affections 
of  middle  youth  to  become  morbid,  and  even  terrible.  This  day 
we  read  what  may  be  read  almost  any  day.    A  girl  of  nineteen, 

daughter  of  a  clergyman,  of  excellent  character 
Disturbances  ^"^  disposition,  left  her  home  for  an  afternoon 

walk.  Not  returning  for  some  time,  the  parents 
became  alarmed  about  her.  Finally,  they  had  bloodhounds 
on  her  trail.  This  led  away  from  her  home  for  some  distance, 
and  then  the  dogs  turned  about  and  returned  to  the  house. 
This  was  interpreted  as  their  loss  of  the  scent  and  consequent 
failure,  but  before  very  long  the  body  of  the  girl  was  found 
under  six  feet  of  water  in  the  cistern  at  her  home.  She  had 
been  obliged  to  leave  school  on  account  of  insufficient  strength 
to  carry  her  work;  and,  though  she  had  said  little  of  this,  it 
had  evidently  preyed  upon  her  mind  until  she  had  drowned 
herself.  Not  until  we  began  to  study  adolescence  did  we  real- 
ize how  common  these  eruptions  of  its  volcanic  spirit  are,  and 
what  their  cause  is.    Jealousy,  anger,  melancholy,  fear,  dread, 


MIDDLE  YOUTH  47 

and  other  impulses  are  constantly  causing  elopements,  poison- 
ings, suicides,  crimes,  and  multitudes  of  lesser  woes.  The 
entire  emotional  nature  of  the  adolescent  is  in  unstable  equilib- 
rium, and  in  many  individuals  is  constantly  liable  to  a  danger- 
ous explosion.  One  of  our  college  students  during  a  baseball 
game  was  acting  as  umpire,  and  his  calls  angered  another 
student  who  was  at  the  bat.  After  holding  in  for  some  time, 
the  latter  lost  control  of  himself,  whirled  around,  and  struck 
the  umpire  on  the  head  with  his  bat.  The  boy  went  to  his 
room  with  a  severe  pain  in  his  head.  Before  long  he  frothed 
at  the  mouth,  and  became  unconscious.  The  surgeons  tre- 
phined his  skull,  but  were  unable  to  control  the  hemorrhage 
caused  by  the  fracture.  Three  or  four  hours  after  the  acci- 
dent death  ensued.  And  the  two  boys  were  real  friends.  The 
tragedies  of  adolescence  are  among  the  saddest  in  the  world. 
Even  the  brooding  melancholy,  that  few  youth  escape  wholly, 
is  painful  and  pitiful  while  it  lasts,  and  the  more  so  that  father 
and  mother  are  very  likely  denied  those  confidences  that  might 
prove  salutary.  The  wise  teacher  knows  that  the  fitful  and 
wayward  tempers  of  youth  are  not  fundamental,  but  transient ; 
the  resentments,  the  passions,  and  the  headlong  rushes  of  folly 
are  but  manifestations  of  the  storm  and  stress  of  fevered 
youth. 

IX.    The  Doubting  Age 

Probably  induced  by  these  emotions  are  the  doubts  and  the 
skepticisms  that  occasion  so  much  anxiety  to  pious  parents 
and  friends.  The  boy  and  the  girl  who  have  been  noticeably 
trustful  and  even  credulous  as  to  religious  truth,  now  show 
Everything  alarming  signs  of  independent  and  apparently  un- 
Is  governed  thinking.     Doctrines  that  are  considered 

Questioned  established,  and  even  sacred,  are  denied,  and  per- 
haps openly  ridiculed.  Religious  services  lose  their  attractive- 
ness, and  are  frequently  neglected.  The  Bible  is  subjected  to 
a  personal  treatment,  with  the  result  that  much  of  it  is  liberally 
denied.    The  young  man  cares  nothing  for  venerated  rites  or 


48         THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

doctrines,  except  as  they  are  found  to  suit  his  personal  and 
present  taste.  He  does  not  regard  the  minister  as  a  holy 
personage.  Nor  is  the  magistrate  or  any  public  official  highly 
honored  by  him  as  svtzK  He  is  sharp  and  cold  in  his  judg- 
ments, and  woe  to  the  person  or  interest  that  puts  on  airs  or 
asks  for  special  privileges.  The  mayor  and  the  minister  are 
as  good  as  other  people,  if  they  know  as  much  and  can  do 
as  much,  and  that  is  about  all  that  is  necessary  from  the 
youth's  viewpoint.  This  challenging  spirit  is  not  limited  to 
religion :-  it  attacks  anything  and  everything.  The  youth  has 
cut  pretty  well  loose  from  the  past,  and  dogmas,  and  tradi- 
tions, and  creeds,  and  rituals  bore  him.  He  can  not  see  any- 
thing in  them,  anyway.  The  practical  effects  of  this  form 
strictly  the  sternest  problem  before  the  Church  to-day.  Among 
these  are  the  abandonment  of  the  Sunday-school  and  the 
church  by  the  greater  part  of  our  own  young  men  and  women. 
We  shall  recur  to  this  later. 

X.    The  Age  of  Opportunity 

And  yet,  in  spite  of  all,  adolescence  is  the  period  of  the 
largest  and  the  most  fruitful  opportunity  of  all  life.  The  dis- 
turbances are  not,  in  a  sense,  unnatural,  and  they  are  not  un- 
Ail  These  controllable.  We  should  scarcely  expect  that  any 
Disturbances  period  of  life  should  be  out  of  the  reach  of  moral 
Yield  to  appeals,   and   fatally   exposed   to   dreadful   evils. 

Control  Q^j.  p^g^  failures  here  must  be  the  result  of  our 

own  weakness  and  ignorance  of  law.  There  must  be  some 
forces  in  nature  and  grace  that  can  be  directed  upon  these 
young  lives,  so  as  to  guide  them  into  safe  channels.  As  it  is, 
the  number  of  conversions  in  our  period  is  very  large,  almost 
the  maximum.  The  sensitiveness  to  evil  involves  the  sen- 
sitiveness to  good.  The  active  intellect  is  eager  for  the  truth 
more  than  for  all  other  things.  The  stormy  emotions  will  sub- 
side if  they  are  brought  under  the  influence  of  Him  who  said 
to  the  waves  of  Galilee,  "Peace,  be  still."  The  hysterias  and 
the  brainstorms  and  the  melancholies  are  excesses  which  may 


MIDDLE  YOUTH  49 

be  avoided,  and  when  incurred  may  be  healed.  The  long  plas- 
ticity of  childhood  has  come  to  its  last  stage.  Soon,  now,  the 
wax  will  harden,  and  no  more  impressions  can  ordinarily  be 
made.  The  Creator  has  made  this  closing  period  of  the  form- 
ative life  an  unparalleled  opportunity  for  wise  moral  and  spir- 
itual influence.  Our  last  effort  must  be  the  greatest.  Never 
before  have  the  problems  been  as  difficult,  or  the  contests  as 
severe;  nor  anywhere  have  the  rewards  shone  brighter  be- 
fore us. 

Lesson  Outline: 

I.    The  Period  We  Study. 
II.     Physical  Phenomena. 

III.  An  Age  of  Activity. 

IV.  An  Adventurous  Age. 

V.    The  Age  of  Individuation. 

VI.  The  Criminal  Age. 

VII.  Companionship. 
VIII.    The  Emotional  Age. 

IX.    The  Doubting  Age. 
X.    An  Age  of  Opportunity. 

Topics  for  Special  Study: 

1.  Relation  between  religious  development  and  physical 

and  mental  growth. 

2.  The  criminality  of  youth. 

Topics  for  Class  Discussion: 

1.  Importance  of  this  period. 

2.  The  physical  traits  of  adolescence. 

3.  The  restlessness  of  youth. 

4.  What  is  an  individual? 

5.  The  criminality  of  young  men. 

6.  The  social  demands  of  youth. 

7.  The  explanations  of  marked  emotions. 

8.  Why  does  the  youth  turn  from  his  home  and  his 

church  ? 

9.  The  possibility  of  moral  and  spiritual  control. 

4  3 


CHAPTER  III 

THE  WISTFUL  YEARS 


CHAPTER   III 
THE  WISTFUL  YEARS 

I.  The  Call  of  the  Future 

The  youth  Is  standing  alone  on  the  shore  of  the  ocean. 
The  surf  breaks  at  his  feet,  and  the  skies  are  bright.  The 
sea-gulls  dip  and  swing  about  him.  Just  how  he  came  there 
he  does  not  know.  But  his  thoughts  are  upon  none  of  these 
things.  His  eyes  range  far  over  the  blue  deep,  where  nothing 
but  the  horizon-line  invites  their  rest.  His  thoughts  are  all 
Confronting  of  the  future.  Whither  is  he  going?  Where 
Life  and  shall  he  abide?    What  are  the  tasks  that  await 

Destiny  j^jj^p    'pj^^    questions    that    have    moved    half- 

formed  in  his  mind  have  taken  shape,  and  are  buzzing  like 
wasps  about  him.  This  big  world — so  busy,  so  noisy,  so  opu- 
lent, so  fascinating,  so  cold  and  cruel — what  has  it  for  him? 
Has  it  a  place  and  a  task  for  him  at  all?  Faintly,  sometimes, 
he  thinks  he  hears  the  sound  of  a  bugle  from  off  the  deep. 
But  he  can  see  no  island  yonder,  nor  find  any  ship.  He  has 
been  made  with  every  token  and  promise  of  usefulness.  He 
has  ability,  and  strength,  and  honor,  and  most  of  all  a  longing 
for  active  service.  What  does  the  future  want  of  him?  This 
grave  query  grows  so  large  in  his  mind  as  to  crowd  out  almost 
everything  else.  The  world  beckons  and  recedes.  Destiny 
is  so  near,  and  yet  so  far. 

II.  The  Harnessing  of  the  Wild  Steeds 

The  ambitions  and  passions  of  youth,  which  it  ha»s  pleased 
our  Creator  to  liberate  so  suddenly  and  so  perilously,  are  not 
destined  to  prove  energies  of  destruction.  They  were  not 
made  for  ruin,  but  for  building.    They  were  intended  to  be 

S3  • 


54         THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

the  motive  power  for  achievement  and  service.  The  horses 
brought  out  from  the  close  stalls  cavort  about  for  a  little 
time,  and  then  they  submit  to  the  harness.  The  willfulness  of 
New  Powers  ^outh  which  seems  invincible  to  parents  and  teach- 
to  be  made  ers,  and  is  so  by  ordinary  methods,  can  be  modi- 
Subject  fied  in  other  ways.  The  wild  ambitions  and  the 
to  Inner  foolish  pursuits  which  resist  habitual  constraints 
can  be  rectified  by  new  agencies,  and  transformed 
into  laudable  and  satisfying  enterprises.  We  can  do  nothing, 
least  of  all  good  things,  without  power.  When  the  youth  re- 
ceives his  baptism  of  power,  it  is  natural  that  he  should  be 
agitated.  It  is  also  to  be  expected  that  he  should  lose  control 
of  it  at  times  while  he  is  learning  its  control.  He  has  been 
formerly  held  down  and  disciplined  from  without,  but  he  re- 
sents that  now ;  and  besides,  he  is  out  of  the  reach  of  parents' 
hands.  The  new  control  to  which  we  have  referred  is  the 
real  control  that  persists  throughout  life.  The  old  constraint 
was  but  temporary,  and  not  the  best.  This  operates  from 
within.  It  is  roused  by  the  new-born  ideals  of  honor,  and 
purity,  and  business  success.  When  the  young  man  realizes 
that  he  is  worth  something,  and  can  do  something,  and  that 
perhaps  riches  and  fame  await  him,  he  begins  to  take  himself 
in  hand.  He  takes  the  control  that  he  will  allow  no  other  to 
have.     He  is  willing  to  be  governed  by  himself. 

Many  of  these  traits  and  experiences  that  we  have  been 
occupied  with  are  unequally  distributed  in  life.  Some  individ- 
uals seem  to  encounter  but  very  few  of  the  storms  or  calms 
A  Young  that   others   of  their  class   meet.     But   there   is, 

Girl's  perhaps,  no  normal  girl  who  does  not  know  by 

Longmes  personal  experience  what  this  lesson  means.  She 
has  had  her  longings,  and  her  hopes,  and  her  fears  deeply 
carved  into  her  heart.  Even  more  than  her  brother  has  she 
been  anxious  about  the  portentous  years.  Take  the  single 
interest  of  her  husband  and  her  home.  Her  brother  probably 
has  some  hint  as  to  what  his  life  work  may  be,  and  where. 
But  the  method  by  which  a  permanent  home  is  formed  for  a 


THE  WISTFUL  YEARS  55 

girl  allows  no  such  hints,  as  a  general  thing.  Some  young 
Lochinvar  may  come  out  of  the  West,  or  somebody  else  is 
just  about  as  likely  to  arise  out  of  the  East,  or  the  North,  or 
the  South — and  nobody  knows  who  or  where.  The  young 
man  may  propose  marriage,  but  the  girl  may  not.  He  may 
take  all  sorts  of  initiatives,  but  the  girl  must  leave  the  most 
important  to  others.  Is  it  any  wonder  that  the  close  observer 
can  catch  the  gleams  of  wistfulness  in  the  pensive  eyes  of  pi- 
most  any  young  girl?  She  can  not  woo  her  destiny.  She  ran 
not  even  sit  by  the  roadside  until  it  passes  by.  She  must  re- 
tire modestly  to  her  home  and  wait  until  she  is  decorously 
sought.  This  applies  to  courtship  and  marriage,  and  to  some 
extent  to  other  interests ;  though  in  our  day  we  see  a  new  and 
extraordinary  widening  of  the  sphere  of  woman,  whereby  the 
young  girl  may  indulge  in  much  business  freedom  and  so  far 
work  out  her  own  problems  unembarrassed.  But  even  in  these 
she  must  face  the  same  uncertainties  as  does  her  brother,  and 
in  a  greater  degree.  Her  future  is  an  almost  uncharted  sea. 
Her  life  journey  must  be  begun  without  a  guide,  and  she  must 
travel  as  a  pioneer  and  alone. 

The  import  of  these  things  to  the  girl's  teacher  can  not  be 
set  forth  in  adequate  words.  Is  it  any  wonder  that  she  who 
essays  to  teach  her  without  reckoning  with  these  acute  condi- 
tions fails? 

III.    Solitude  and  Meditation 

Sir  Walter  Besant  speaks  of  his  experience  when  he  was 
a  "hall  bedroom  young  man."  He  says :  "In  the  evening  the 
place  was  absolutely  silent.  The  silence  sometimes  helped 
Loneliness  me  to  work,  sometimes  it  got  on  my  nerves  and 
is  In-  became    intolerable.     I    would    then    go    out    and 

tolerable  wander  about  the  streets  for  the  sake  of  anima- 

tion, the  crowds  and  the  lights,  or  I  would  go  half-price  to  the 
pit  of  the  theater,  or  I  would  drop  into  a  casino,  and  sit  in 
a  corner  and  look  at  the  dancing.  The  thing  was  risky,  but 
I  came  to  no  harm.    To  this  day  I  can  not  think  of  those 


56         THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

lonely  evenings  in  my  London  lodging  without  a  touch  of  the 
old  terror  .  .  .  There  are  thousands  of  young  fellows  to- 
day who  find,  as  I  found  every  evening,  the  silence  and  loneli- 
ness intolerable."  Thousands  of  such  are  in  our  great  cities 
to-day,  and  there  are  other  thousands  in  the  sparsely  settled 
regions  of  our  land.  Enforced  loneliness,  especially  at  the 
period  when  companionship  is  most  demanded,  and  when  there 
is  a  perilous  tendency  to  morbid  melancholy  and  to  depressing 
fear,  is  a  practical  condition  that  becomes  a  teacher's 
problem. 

Then  there  are  impulses  to  solitude  in  the  midst  of  the 
privileges  of  society.  The  young  person  often  withdraws  to 
a  chamber  of  reflection,  where  he  can  be  alone  with  his  medi- 
tations. These  are  all  of  the  future,  of  course — and  many 
futures  are  finally  fixed  here.  Numbers  of  people  can  now 
go  back,  in  vivid  memory,  through  many  years  to  a  little  cham- 
ber, or  an  old  attic,  or  a  barn-loft,  or  a  shady  grove,  or  the 
bank  of  a  smooth-flowing  stream,  where  long  meditations  at 
last  cleared  up  the  perplexing  problems  of  the  young  Hfe,  and 
led  to  decisions  that  shaped  all  the  coming  years. 

IV.    Days  of  Decision 

It  often  happens  that  the  wistful  youth  comes  thus  to  his 
destiny.  Who  shall  say  that  this  is  not  the  normal  method  of 
the  fixation  of  life's  generic  choices?  While  he  is  eagerly 
watching  the  light  in  the  distance,  he  beholds  his  vision.  He 
Life  knows  that  it  is  for  him,  and  he  is  satisfied  to 

Decisions  seize  it.  All  uncertainties  are  dissolved.  The 
are  Made  ^^y  Qpgns.  He  wanders  no  longer.  All  future 
questions  arise  within  the  scope  of  his  choice.  It  is  not  only 
religious  decisions  that  are  made  in  a  moment  of  time.  It  is 
so  with  others,  and  all  are  thus  natural.  Mr.  Childs,  the 
Philadelphia  journalist,  said  that  when  he  was  a  boy  he  was 
one  day  walking  by  the  building  where  the  Ledger  was  printed. 
He  was  poor  and  without  prospects.  But  he  had  a  revelation. 
He  stopped  suddenly  and  said,  "When  I  get  to  be  a  man  I  am 


THE  WISTFUL  YEARS  57 

going  to  own  that  building."     He  kept  that  aim  before  him, 
and  finally  realized  it. 

Macaulay  tells  us  that  one  bright  summer  day  the  boy, 
Warren  Hastings,  then  just  seven  years  old,  lay  on  the  bank 
of  the  rivulet  which  flows  through  the  old  domain  of  his 
house  to  join  the  Isis.  There,  as  threescore  and  ten  years 
later  he  told  the  tale,  rose  in  his  mind  a  scheme,  which, 
through  all  the  turns  of  his  eventful  career,  was  never  aban- 
doned. He  would  recover  the  estate  that  belonged  to  his 
fathers.  He  would  be  Hastings  of  Daylesford.  This  purpose, 
formed  in  infancy  and  poverty,  grew  stronger  as  his  intellect 
expanded  and  as  his  fortune  rose.  He  pursued  his  plan  with 
that  calm  but  indomitable  force  of  will  which  was  the  most 
striking  peculiarity  of  his  character.  When  under  a  tropical 
sun  he  ruled  fifty  millions  of  Asiatics,  his  hopes,  amidst  all 
the  cares  of  war,  finance,  and  legislation,  still  pointed  to 
Daylesford.  And  when  his  public  life,  so  singularly  check- 
ered with  good  and  evil,  with  glory  and  obloquy,  had  at  length 
closed  forever,  it  was  to  Daylesford  that  he  came  to  die. 

V.    At  the  Altar 

Our  period  is  one  of  those  few  that  are  marked  by  num- 
bers of  Christian  decisions.  The  youth  finds  the  altar  of  con- 
secration. It  is  a  time  when  he  feels  most  keenly  the  attrac- 
tions of  Jesus  Christ,  and  hears  His  voice,  saying,  "Follow 
A  Period  of  Me."  Coe  says :  "The  broader,  deeper  ques- 
Religious  tioning  as  to  the  meaning  of  life,  together  with 
Consecration  ^^iq  blossoming  of  the  social  instinct,  brings  the 
need  of  a  new  and  more  deeply  personal  realization  of  the 
content  of  religion.  The  quickened  conscience,  with  its  thirst 
for  absolute  righteousness;  the  quickened  intellect,  with  its 
thirst  for  absolute  truth;  the  quickened  aesthetic  sense,  with 
its  intuitions  of  a  beauty  that  eye  hath  not  seen  and  ear  hath 
not  heard;  the  quickened  social  sense,  with  its  longing  for 
perfect  and  eternal  companionship — in  short,  the  new  mean- 
ingfulness  and  mystery  of  life — all  this  tends  to  bring  in  a 


58         THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

new  and  distinct  epoch  in  religious  experience."  So  we  find 
religious  experiences  of  a  vivid  and  permanent  type  abounding 
in  youth.  E.  G.  Lancaster  studied  598  miscellaneous  cases, 
518  of  which  showed  new  religious  inclinations  between  the 
ages  of  12  and  25,  and  mostly  between  12  and  20.  If  the  child 
has  not  given  himself  to  Christ,  it  is  likely  that  he  will  do  so  in 
youth.  If  he  has  become  a  Christian  early,  he  will  doubtless 
have  brighter  and  deeper  experiences  in  the  age  that  we  are 
studying.  Of  ']']()  graduates  of  a  well-known  theological  semi- 
nary, the  largest  number  were  converted  at  the  age  of  16,  and 
the  average  age  of  conversion  was  16.4.  Of  526  officers  of  the 
Young  Men's  Christian  Association  in  the  United  States  and 
the  British  provinces,  the  average  age  of  conversion  was  al- 
most identical  with  this,  namely,  16.5.  In  Coe's  report  of  re- 
ligious awakenings,  the  highest  numbers  are  at  13,  15,  17,  and 
20  years  of  age.  He  adds :  "It  is  agreed  that  the  adolescent 
religious  change  comes  with  girls  a  year  or  two  earlier  than 
with  boys — a  significant  evidence  of  the  correlation  of  the  re- 
ligious with  the  physical  change ;  for  practically  the  same  dif- 
ference exists  in  both  cases."  The  same  authority  points  out 
a  distinction  between  the  first  awakening  and  the  decisive 
awakening,  observation  disclosing  both  of  these  in  many  lives. 
The  former  occurs  in  the  majority  of  cases  at  13  years  and 
the  latter  at  17  years.  Of  a  large  number  of  cases  (1,784 
men)  the  average  age  of  decisive  awakening  or  conversion 
was  precisely  16.4  years.  In  the  case  of  second  experiences, 
often  called  sanctification,  the  maximum  age  has  been  found 
to  be  20  years,  which  also  falls  within  our  period.  It  is  wor- 
thy of  notice  that  the  curve  that  rises  to  this  height  at  20 
years,  falls  away  rapidly  thereafter. 

It  should  not  be  forgotten  that  these  phenomena  are  gen- 
eral, not  peculiar  to  our  own  religion.  They  belong  to  the 
common  human  nature.  If  the  relation  of  adolescence  to  any 
religion  is  studied,  an  interesting  series  of  pious  ceremonies 
will  be  uncovered  signalizing  the  initiation  of  youths  into  man- 
hood and  the  covenants  of  religion.     Even  the  aborigines  of 


THE  WISTFUL  YEARS  59 

this  country  practiced  such  rites.  It  is  said  that  "when  a 
youth  of  the  Omaha  tribe  of  Indians  arrives  at  puberty  he  is 
sent  forth  into  the  wilderness  to  fast  in  soHtude  for  four  days. 
To  develop  self-control  he  is  provided  with  bows  and  arrows, 
but  is  forbidden  to  kill  any  creature.  Arrived  on  the  moun- 
tains, he  lifts  up  his  voice  to  the  Great  Spirit  in  a  song  that 
has  been  sung  under  such  circumstances  from  before  the  time 
that  the  white  man  first  set  foot  upon  these  shores :  'God ! 
here,  poor  and  needy,  I  stand !'  The  melody  is  soulful,  so  ap- 
pealingly  prayerful  that  one  can  scarcely  believe  it  to  be  of 
barbarous  origin.  Yet,  what  miracles  may  not  religious  feel- 
ing work !  The  boy  is  waiting,  in  fact,  for  a  vision  from  on 
high — a  revelation  to  be  vouchsafed  to  him  personally,  and  to 
show  what  his  life  is  to  be,  whether  that  of  hunter,  or  of 
warrior,  or  of  medicine-man."  This  savage,  standing  alone 
on  his  mount  of  devotion,  might  almost  be  taken  as  a  picture 
of  the  wistful  years  of  universal  youth.  In  his  solitude  he 
faces  ultimate  mystery  and  destiny.  He  supplicates  his  Maker 
for  that  aid,  without  which  he  can  not  make  life's  supreme 
choice.     The  end  of  his  longing  is  God's  plan  for  him. 

In  previous  years  the  soul  has  cherished  ideals,  but  not  as 
now.  The  ideals  of  adolescence  are  broader,  and  truer,  and 
richer.  They  are  also  of  a  permanent  nature.  The  new  life 
_  has  quickened  them,  the  new  vision  has  clarified 

The  Abiding      , ,  ,    , ,  .  ,  ,      , 

Ideal  them,  and  the  new  motives  have  crowned  them. 

Henceforth  they  will  only  change  as  they  grow 
stronger.  The  youth's  solemn  yearnings  are  but  the  token 
of  their  present  power  over  him.  Because  of  these  he  lives 
now  in  the  future,  and  shapes  all  his  plans  forward.  Lowell 
reveals  his  sympathy  with,  and  his  admiration  for,  the  ado- 
lescent in  the  lines: 

"Of  all  the  myriad  moods  of  mind 

That  through  the  soul  come  thronging, 
Which  one  was  e'er  so  dear,  so  kind. 
So  beautiful  as  Longing!" 


6o         THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

"Still  through  our  paltry  stir  and  strife, 
Glows  down  the  wished  Ideal, 
And  Longing  molds  in  clay  what  Life 
Carves  in  the  marble  Real." 

Lesson  Outline: 

I.  The  Call  of  the  Futupe. 

11.  The  Harnessing  of  the  Wild  Steeds. 

HI.  Solitude  and  Meditation. 

IV.  Days  of  Decision. 

V.  At  the  Altar. 

Topics  for  Special  Study: 

1.  The  conversions  of  this  period. 

2.  Experiences  akin  to  conversion  outside  Christianity. 

Topics  for  Class  Discussion: 

1.  What  turns  the  mind  of  the  youth  to  the  future? 

2.  When  should  the  parents  cease  control? 

3.  The  social  independence  of  young  women. 

4.  The  meaning  of  youth's  loneliness. 

5.  The  significance  of  early  life  decisions. 

6.  Youth  as  a  period  of  conversion. 

7.  The  significance  of  other  similar  experiences. 

8.  The  power  of  ideals. 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE  TEACHER'S  FIRST  PUPIL 


CHAPTER  IV 
THE  TEACHER'S  FIRST  PUPIL 

I.    The  First  Word 

You  can  do  it.  Let  us  hasten  to  say  this.  You  can  teach : 
that  is,  you  can  mal<:e  a  teacher  of  yourself.  Not  every  per- 
son can  succeed  in  the  teacher's  vocation,  of  course;  but  the 
one  who  has  come  thus  far  is  doubtless  able  to  go  on  and 
prosper.  Why  is  this  said?  Because  so  many  are  discour- 
aged in  spite  of  the  things  that  are  said  to  encourage  and  to 
help  in  books  like  this,  and  in  conventions.  It  is  necessary 
A  High  to  set  up  a  standard,  and  many  have  contrasted 

Ideal  for  their  own  limited  attainments  with  this,  and  have 

Inspiration      ^^^^   gj^.^j^    ^p   ^^  ^^^   gpo^^    satisfied   that    they 

could  never  come  up  to  it.  We  wish  to  fend  against  this 
in  the  outset.  Do  not  be  discouraged.  Let  us  tell  you 
freely  what  a  zealous  teacher  can  do  for  himself,  and  then 
regard  this  ideal  rather  than  your  own  inexperience.  The 
possibilities  of  self-improvement  are  doubtless  far  beyond  what 
you  have  ever  imagined.  We  are  not  going  to  talk  about  the 
pupil  or  the  teaching  process  first,  but  about  the  teacher.  His 
first  pupil  is  himself,  and  this  is  where  he  should  begin.  There 
is  a  way  of  getting  at  his  work  which  will  enable  him  to  avoid 
personal  distress  and  failure.  Ideals  should  stimulate  rather 
than  depress.  If  one  is  wholly  normal,  he  will  be  helped  by 
them.  "But  I  know  that  I  could  never  reach  such  exalted 
excellence  as  that?"  do  you  say?  What  of  it?  You  will  rise, 
anyway.  All  that  you  win,  you  gain.  Emerson  was  not  afraid 
to  advise  us  to  hitch  our  wagon  to  a  star,  and  Lowell  admon- 
ishes us  that  "Not  failure,  but  low  aim,  is  crime." 

63  ' 


64         THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

II.    The  Teacher  Teaches  by  What  He  Is 

There  is  nothing  to  be  said  that  is  more  important  than 
this.  All  teachers  must  regard  this  principle,  but  the  Sunday- 
school  teacher  more  than  any  other.  For  there  is  more  of 
influence  the  moral  and  the  spiritual  in  his  work.  Public 
of  First  school  teachers  may  (perhaps)  make  the  knowl- 

Importance  ^^g^  ^f  i^Q^j^g  primary,  but  the  Sunday-school 
teacher  must  always  put  character  first.  His  principal  con- 
cern is  not  so  much  letters  and  figures,  as  purity  and  truth. 
He  needs  knowledge,  and  much  of  it,  of  course;  but  knowl- 
edge is  not  the  end.  He  uses  it  for  character  formation,  and 
this  is  his  great  work.  Here  is  the  reason  for  the  first  em- 
phasis on  the  character  of  the  teacher.  There  is  a  grand 
principle  in  the  social  world,  whereby  the  character  of  one 
person  modifies  the  character  of  another,  without  the  formal- 
ity of  classes  and  lessons,  and  even  without  a  spoken  word. 
St.  Francis  of  Assisi  once  called  a  young  monk  to  him  and 
said,  "Let  us  go  out  and  preach  to-day,"  to  which  the  younger 
monk  assented.  St.  Francis  led  him  out  into  the  street  of  the 
city,  and  up  and  down  many  streets  and  alleys  all  day  long. 
At  evening  the  young  man  asked,  "But  when  are  we  to  begin 
to  preach,  father?"  The  reply  was,  "We  have  been  preaching 
all  day,  my  son."  As  they  preached  we  preach.  By  our  daily 
walk  and  conversation  we  make  impressions  for  good  or  for 
ill  upon  all  we  meet.  And  upon  the  sensitive  minds  of  the 
young  the  impressions  thus  made  are  deep  and  lasting. 

Now,  we  can  all  be  good,  and  we  can  make  ourselves  bet- 
ter by  many  means  of  grace.  The  teacher's  first  desire  should 
be  to  make  himself  a  good  man,  and  his  encouragement  will 
be  that  every  effort  that  he  may  make  toward  this  end  will 
surely  operate  successfully.  On  this  point  Burton  and  Mat- 
hews say :  "The  student  should  study  in  a  sympathetic  spirit ; 
and  this  implies  that  he  is  to  endeavor  to  put  himself  under 
divine  influence  by  prayer.  Having  endeavored  to  get  at  the 
truth  precisely  as  it  is,  and  to  bring  himself  as  nearly  as  pos- 


THE  TEACHER'S  FIRST  PUPIL  65 

sible  to  the  Author  of  all  truth,  he  should,  in  the  third  place, 
have  such  confidence  in  that  truth,  and  in  that  Author,  as  to 
believe  that  spiritual  growth  is  inevitable.  As  a  man  has  con- 
fidence in  the  power  of  God  as  revealed  in  the  outer  world, 
so  should  he  trust  God  as  He  is  revealed  in  the  laws  of  human 
nature.  Divine  truth  will  not  return  to  its  Maker  void  of  re- 
sults. He  who  seeks  to  apprehend  exactly  the  teachings  of 
prophet,  or  apostle,  or  the  Christ,  and  who  is  wiUing  to  incor- 
porate in  his  conduct  such  truth  as  fast  as  it  is  revealed,  need 
not  be  seeking  for  quantitative  spiritual  growth.  Such  a 
student  is  working,  not  only  patiently,  but  scientifically,  and 
such  study  can  no  more  fail  to  produce  spiritual  character 
than  the  earth  can  fail  to  produce  a  harvest  when  once  the 
seed  is  planted  in  it." 

Every  young  teacher  can  have  this  encouragement,  that  as 
he  teaches  most  by  what  his  own  character  really  is,  and  as 
this  can  be  made  what  it  needs  to  be,  it  is  within  his  power  to 
become  a  true  teacher  in  this  first  and  most  important  respect. 

I.  The  New  Emphasis  Upon  Personality.  There  was 
never  so  much  attention  paid  to  personal  influence  as  now,  and 
this  is  because  of  a  changed  notion  of  what  influence  is.  As 
lately  as  within  the  life  of  this  English  word, 
the  Person  "influence"  has  wholly  changed  its  meaning.  Ac- 
cording to  the  Authorized  Version  of  the  Bible, 
Jehovah  asked  Job  this  question,  ''Canst  thou  bind  the  sweet 
influences  of  Pleiades?"  In  the  Revised  Version  the  question 
is  "Canst  thou  bind  the  cluster  of  the  Pleiades?"  Shake- 
speare uses  the  word  ten  times,  and  every  time  in  the  same 
sense,  which  is  not  our  sense  at  all,  but  that  of  the  supposed 
power  of  the  stars  and  the  planets  to  afifect  human  actions  and 
lives.  Only  as  far  back  as  the  time  of  the  above  citations  as- 
trology was  a  respectable  science,  and  people  generally  seemed 
to  accept  its  teachings.  But  we  have  got  beyond  that  nowa- 
days. We  no  longer  believe  in  these  far-away  agencies,  and 
so  we  have  taken  the  word  "influence,"  which  was  coined  to 
express  them,  and  changed  its  meaning  so  that  it  now  refers 
5  « 


66         THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

mainly  to  persons.  We  can  ignore  or  defy  the  planets,  but  we 
pause  reverently  before  the  stellar  graces  of  a  human  spirit, 
to  which  we  trace  most  of  the  real  forces  that  shape  character. 
Much  as  we  esteem  knowledge,  we  value  the  virtues  of  the 
teacher  more.  In  the  close  contacts  of  the  Sunday-school 
class  character  impressions  are  profoundly  and  permanently 
made.  If  Emerson  could  write  to  his  daughter  that  he  cared 
not  so  much  what  her  studies  were,  but  was  greatly  concerned 
as  to  who  her  teachers  were  to  be,  how  much  more  interested 
should  parents  be  in  the  personality  of  him  who  is  to  assume 
charge  of  these  Sunday-school  class  interviews,  in  which  so 
many  moral  and  spiritual  potencies  reside ! 

2.  Lessons  from  Life.  If  this  were  mere  theory,  we 
might  doubt  it,  since  the  claims  for  personal  influence  are  so 
large.  But  the  facts  of  experience  talk  even  louder  than  the 
Experience  theory.  We  have  read  of  one  who  testifies  that 
Testifies  to  after  sixty  years  he  remembers  his  first  teacher 
Influence  ^g  ^.j^g  Sweetest  and  most  beautiful  woman  of  his 

whole  life ;  that  he  can  remember,  as  if  it  were  yesterday,  the 
exquisite  neatness  of  the  dress  she  wore,  and  the  flowers  that 
she  always  brought  for  the  desk.  This  he  reckoned  as  one  of 
the  most  potent  influences  that  ever  touched  his  life.  Says 
another :  "The  first  requisite  of  the  teacher  is  that  she  should 
make  herself  personally  attractive,  so  far  as  may  be,  to  the 
children.  The  teacher,  whether  she  will  or  not,  is  the  first  ob- 
ject lesson  the  pupil  ever  receives  in  school.  The  children 
should  never  see  their  teacher  other  than  serene,  and  cheery, 
and  radiant  with  sympathy." 

Every  successful  preacher  illustrates  this  principle.  Though 
he  does  "preach  the  Word,"  he  enforces  the  revelation  far 
more  by  what  he  is  than  by  all  he  says.  It  is  the  man  behind 
the  sermon  that  counts,  just  as  truly  as  it  is  "the  man  behind 
the  gun."  Many  a  faithful  minister  of  Christ  is  without 
extraordinary  oratorical  power,  yet  achieves  the  highest  suc- 
cess; but  none  succeed  if  their  character  is  corrupt,  or  even 
unsympathetic.     Jesus    Christ   is   the   supreme   illustration   of 


THE  TEACHER'S  FIRST  PUPIL  ^^ 

influence.  There  are  gravitations  in  two  worlds :  the  physical, 
which  pulls  the  planets  and  the  suns ;  and  the  spiritual,  which 
proceeds  from  Jesus  Christ.  This  latter  is  growing  through 
the  centuries  and  millenniums,  and  will  ultimately  draw  all 
men  to  Him.  He  is  the  Exemplar  of  all  His  followers  in 
this.  John  Baptist  showed  the  power  of  personality.  He  was 
but  "a  voice  crying  in  the  wilderness,"  and  yet  he  compelled 
great  throngs  of  people  to  travel  far  to  hear  him,  and  it  is 
written  that  they  were  baptized  by  him  in  Jordan,  confessing 
their  sins.  Phillips  Brooks  finds  that  preaching  "has  in  it 
two  essential  elements,  truth  and  personality.  Neither  of 
these  can  it  spare,  and  still  be  preaching.  The  truth  must 
come  really  through  the  person,  not  merely  over  his  lips,  not 
merely  into  his  understanding  and  out  through  his  pen.  It 
must  come  through  his  character,  his  affections,  his  whole 
intellectual  and  moral  being.  I  think  that,  granting  equal 
intelligence  and  study,  here  is  the  great  difference  which  we 
feel  between  two  peachers  of  the  Word :  the  gospel  has  come 
over  one  of  them :  it  has  come  through  the  other."  Though 
he  spoke  as  a  preacher  rather  than  as  a  teacher,  we  can  not 
fail  to  be  impressed  by  this  utterance  of  that  prince  of  inter- 
preters of  the  Bible  by  the  spoken  word. 

Henry  Clay  Trumbull  declares  that  he  was  personally  in- 
fluenced, as  a  Sunday-school  scholar,  a  great  deal  more  than 
he  was  ever  taught.  He  says :  "There  was  comparatively 
little  of  thorough  or  systematic  instruction  in  Bible  truth 
in  my  boyhood  days ;  but  there  was  influencing  then,  as  in  the 
days  of  David  and  of  Paul,  and  as  there  is  to-day.  I  can 
particularly  recall  two  of  my  teachers  out  of  several.  One 
made  it  his  whole  endeavor  to  instruct.  He  declared  the  truth 
explicitly,  and  with  plainness ;  but  he  was  at  no  special  pains 
to  influence  his  scholars  personally.  The  other  was  a  man  of 
less  knowledge,  but  was  possessed  with  zeal  for  souls.  His 
"teaching"  was  out  of  the  question-book,  anc!  was  somewhat 
perfunctory.  But  when  the  lesson  was  over,  then  that  teacher 
would  reach  forward  to  his  class,  and  laying  his  hands  ten- 


68         THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

derly  on  the  knees  of  one  scholar  and  another,  would  look 
into  the  scholar's  eyes  with  eyes  that  were  brimming  with 
loving  tears,  and  would  say  with  a  tremulous  tenderness  that 
carried  the  weight  of  his  whole  soul  into  the  words :  'My 
dear  boy,  I  do  wish  that  you  would  love  Jesus  and  give  Him 
your  whole  heart !'  All  the  instruction  out  of  the  question- 
book  of  one  of  those  classes,  and  out  of  the  great  brain  of  the 
teacher  of  the  other  class,  has  long  ago  passed  from  the  mind 
of  the  scholar  who  tells  of  this ;  but  the  influence  of  the  per- 
sistent pleader  for  Christ,  and  for  souls,  is  fresh  and  potent 
to-day;  and  the  pressure  of  those  loving  hands  on  that  schol- 
ar's knee  is  felt,  after  forty  years,  as  while  those  hands  still 
rested  there." 

III.    The  Intellectual  Qualification 

This  also  is  to  be  looked  after.  Dr.  Gregory  gives  as  the 
law  of  the  teacher,  "The  teacher  must  know  that  which  he 
would  teach."  The  Divine  Teacher  warned  the  blind  against 
trying  to  lead  the  blind.  Our  religion  is  a  system  of  truth, 
and  truth  implies  knowledge.  There  is  no  knowl- 
Indili[)ensable  ^^^^  ^^^  ^^  ^^^  truth.  To  decry  knowledge  is  to 
disparage  the  truth.  Paul  told  Timothy  to  be 
"apt  to  teach,"  and  bade  him  "give  diligence  to  present  thy- 
self approved  unto  God,  a  workman  that  needeth  not  to  be 
ashamed,  handling  aright  the  word  of  truth."  Many  have 
essayed  to  handle  the  Word,  and  in  many  ways,  but  we  can 
not  improve  upon  the  Apostle's  plan.  There  is  no  other  way 
to  do  this  than  by  giving  diligence.  We  must  work  for  it. 
We  must  not  grudge  the  expenditure  of  such  time  upon  our 
Bible  as  the  sportsman  bestows  upon  his  horses  and  dogs,  or 
the  fine  lady  upon  her  gowns  and  ribbons.  It  is  worth  while 
to  study  the  Bible.  The  teacher's  knowledge  of  what  he 
stands  up  to  teach  makes  him  a  power. 

Let  us  never  forget  that  knowledge  and  goodness  go  to- 
gether, just  as  ignorance  and  sin  belong  to  the  same  evil  kin. 
Carlyle  puts  it  thus  pungently :     "If  the  devil  »were  passing 

3 


THE  TEACHER'S  FIRST  PUPIL  69 

through  my  country,  and  applied  to  me  for  any  Instruction  on 
any  truth  or  fact  of  this  universe,  I  should  wish  to  give  it  to 
him.  He  is  less  a  devil,  knowing  that  three  and  three  make 
six,  than  if  he  did  n't  know  it ;  a  light  spark,  though  of  the 
faintest,  is  in  this  fact.  If  he  knew  facts  enough,  continuous 
light  would  dawn  upon  him.  To  his  amazement  he  would 
understand  what  this  universe  is,  on  what  principles  it  con- 
ducts itself,  and  would  perhaps  cease  to  be  a  devil."  There 
may  be  a  truth  in  this  for  us.  It  is  certain  that  truth  is  an 
attribute  of  God,  and  that  according  to  the  prayer  of  our  Lord 
we  are  to  be  sanctified  through  His  truth.  Think  not  that 
the  pursuit  of  spiritual  knowledge  is  irksome ;  it  is  one  of  the 
most  fascinating  things  in  the  world.  Think  not  that  the 
storehouse  of  truth  will  soon  be  exhausted :  it  is  filled  from 
the  skies,  and  the  more  we  learn  the  more  there  seems  to  be 
for  us  to  learn.  It  is  a  common  experience  of  teachers  that, 
however  large  their  class  or  bright  their  pupils,  they  them- 
selves learn  more  from  every  lesson  than  any  of  them. 

The  teacher  may  thus  become  more  of  an  example  to  his 
pupils  than  in  mere  behavior.  He  can  influence  them  by  his 
own  love  for  the  truth,  his  fondness  for  study,  and  patience 
The  Teacher  in  seeking  those  best  things  that  do  not  always 
an  Example  come  Speedily.  It  will  not  hurt  him  in  their  esti- 
in Knowledge  j^^^ion  if  they  see  him  growing  in  knowledge: 
quite  the  contrary.  They  will  be  more  likely  to  persevere, 
through  believing  in  the  suprising  proficiency  of  the  zealous, 
if  they  see  their  teacher  manifesting  this  proficiency  day  by 
day.  They  will  be  more  likely  to  allow  the  necessary  time 
for  the  long  process  of  education,  if  they  see  their  teacher  al- 
lowing this  time  without  haste  and  without  rest.  William 
James  tells  of  a  visit  paid  by  some  accomplished  Hindoos  to 
Harvard  University,  who  talked  freely  of  life  and  philosophy. 
"More  than  one  of  them  has  confided  to  me  that  the  sight  of 
our  faces,  all  contracted  as  they  are  with  the  habitual  Ameri- 
can over-intensity  and  anxiety  of  expression,  and  our  un- 
graceful and  distorted  attitudes  when  sitting,  made  on  him  a 


70         THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

very  painful  impression.  'I  do  not  see,'  says  one,  'how  it  is 
possible  for  you  to  live  as  you  do,  without  a  single  minute  in 
your  day  deliberately  given  to  tranquillity  and  meditation.  It 
is  an  invariable  part  of  our  Hindoo  life  to  retire  for  at  least 
half  an  hour  daily  into  silence,  to  relax  our  muscles,  govern 
our  breathing,  and  meditate  on  eternal  things.  Every  Hindoo 
child  is  trained  to  this  from  an  early  age.'  The  good  fruits 
of  this  were  obvious  in  the  physical  repose  and  lack  of  tension, 
and  the  wonderful  smoothness  and  calmness  of  facial  expres- 
sion, and  imperturbability  of  manner  of  these  Orientals.  I 
felt  that  my  countrymen  were  depriving  themselves  of  an  es- 
sential grace  of  character."  It  is  well  within  the  province  and 
the  privilege  of  the  teacher  to  illustrate  the  moods  and  dispo- 
sitions of  the  spiritual  truthseeker,  as  well  as  to  present  the 
theorems  and  the  diagrams  of  knowledge.  The  pathways  of 
the  teacher  and  the  pupil  are  not  as  far  apart  as  we  sometimes 
think.  The  model  teacher  is  he  who  enters  deeply  into  all 
the  life  of  him  whom  he  would  instruct  and  inspire. 

IV.    A  Special  Inducement 

The  principles  of  this  lesson  are  of  general  application,  but 
they  apply  with  special  force  to  the  Senior  Grade.  The  ado- 
lescent, with  his  high  ideals,  his  keen  insight,  his  thirst  for 
knowledge  and  greater  thirst  for  sympathy,  is  pre-eminently 
The  Senior  appreciative  of  the  teacher  that  is  strong  and 
Pupil  Ap-  true.  All  that  the  senior's  teacher  does  for  him 
prcciative  of  by  way  of  self-discipline  richly  repays  the  effort. 
Virtue  and  j^^^^  ^.j^g^-^  ^j^jg  combination  of  heart  and  brain  is 
the  most  desirable  of  all  the  gifts  of  power.  Not 
the  banker  with  his  millions,  nor  the  public  officer  at  his  desk, 
nor  the  king  on  his  throne  wields  the  real  power  of  the  teacher 
whose  heart  is  warm  with  affection,  and  whose  mind  is  en- 
riched with  learning.  For  his  is  the  greater  soul.  Emerson 
says:  "Who  has  more  soul  than  I  masters  me,  though  he 
should  not  raise  his  finger.  Round  him  I  must  revolve  by 
the  gravitation  of  spirits;  who  has  less  I  rule  with  like  facil- 


THE  TEACHER'S  FIRST  PUPIL  71 

ity."  And  again:  "Always  as  much  virtue  as  there  is,  so 
much  appears;  as  much  goodness  as  there  is,  so  much 
reverence  it  commands.  All  the  devils  respect  virtue.  The 
high,  the  generous,  the  self-devoted  sect  will  always  instruct 
and  command  mankind.  Never  a  sincere  word  was  lost 
utterly.     Never  a   magnanimity   fell  to  the   ground." 

Arnold  of  Rugby  was  an  illustrious  example  of  the  teacher 
that  we  have  tried  to  set  forth  in  this  lesson,  and  his  success 
with  adolescents  was  unexcelled.  His  scholars  used  to  say 
that  a  boy  who  was  under  his  influence  at  Rugby  could  not  find 
it  in  his  heart  to  do  a  notably  mean  thing,  because  the  boy's 
honor  was  made  so  much  of  in  the  teacher's  teaching  and 
practice.  One  of  his  boys,  grown  to  manhood,  speaks  thus  of 
this  immortal  teacher:  "The  tall,  gallant  form,  the  kindling 
eye,  the  voice — now  soft  as  the  low  notes  of  a  flute,  now  clear 
and  stirring  as  the  call  of  the  light  infantry  bugle — of  him 
who  stood  there  Sunday  after  Sunday,  v>^itnessing  and  plead- 
ing for  his  Lord,  the  King  of  righteousness,  and  love,  and 
glory,  with  whose  Spirit  he  was  filled,  and  with  whose  power 
he  spoke."  "What  was  it,  after  all,  that  seized  and  held  these 
three  hundred  boys,  dragging  them  out  of  themselves,  willing 
or  unwilling,  for  twenty  minutes  on  Sunday  afternoons? 
.  .  .  We  couldn't  enter  into  that  we  heard  .  .  .  But 
we  listened  as  all  boys  in  their  better  moods  will  listen,  to  a 
man  whom  we  felt  to  be,  with  all  his  heart  and  soul  and 
strength,  striving  against  whatever  was  mean  and  unmanly 
and  unrighteous  in  our  little  world.  It  was  not  the  cold,  clear 
voice  of  one  giving  advice  and  warning  from  the  serene 
heights  to  those  who  were  struggling  and  sinning  below,  but 
the  warm,  living  voice  of  one  who  was  fighting  for  us  by  our 
sides,  and  calling  us  to  help  him  and  ourselves  and  one  an- 
other. And  so,  wearily  and  little  by  little,  but  surely  and 
steadily,  on  the  whole,  it  was  brought  home  to  the  young  boy 
for  the  first  time  the  meaning  of  his  life — that  it  was  no  fools' 
nor  sluggards'  paradise  into  which  he  had  wandered  by 
chance,  but  a  battle-field,  ordained  from  of  old,  where  there 


^2         THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

are  no  spectators,  but  the  youngest  must  take  his  side,  and 
the  stakes  are  life  and  death." 

Rarely  has  the  senior  teacher's  triumph  been  as  clearly  dis- 
cerned and  as  truly  described  as  this. 

Lesson  Outline: 

I.    The  First  Word. 
II.    The  Teacher  Teaches  by  What  He  Is. 

1.  The  new  emphasis  upon  personality. 

2.  Lessons  from  life. 

III.    The  Intellectual  Qualification. 
IV.    A  Special  Inducement. 

Topics  for  Special  Study: 

1.  Great  teachers  of  religion. 

2.  The  enrichment  of  personality. 

Topics  for  Class  Discussion: 

1.  Can  everybody  teach  successfully? 

2.  Are  the  requirements  of  a  teacher  set  too  high? 

3.  The  teaching  value  of  influence. 

4.  The  lifting  power  of  ideals. 

5.  The  new  emphasis  upon  personality. 

6.  What  are  your  personal  estimates  of  your  teachers? 

7.  Can  one  teach  at  all  without  knowing? 

8.  The  importance  of  truth  in  our  work. 

9.  Can  one  be  a  teacher  and  a  learner  at  the  same  time? 
10.  How  much  is  the  senior's  teacher  likely  to  be  appre- 
ciated ? 


CHAPTER  V 

CONSECRATION   PLUS   PREPARATION 


CHAPTER  V 
CONSECRATION  PLUS  PREPARATION 

I.    The  Teacher's  Consecration 

This  is  not  a  consecration  of  talk  only,  nor  even  of  prayer. 
It  is  real.  It  means  something — and  much.  It  does  not  ex- 
haust itself  in  feverish  exhortations,  or  in  passionate  vows. 
More  than  Very  likely  it  was  not  born  in  a  "consecration 
Words  and  service"  at  all.  It  is  not  an  end  in  itself,  and  was 
Emotion  ^^^  g^^  ^p  ^q  ^^  worshiped.     It  looks  beyond  it- 

self to  real  service  and  fruitfulness.  It  is  a  pity  that  this 
beautiful  word  has  been  used  so  much  to  designate  an  emo- 
tional exercise  that  does  not  pass  over  into  deeds.  This  lat- 
ter is  not  consecration  at  all.  With  the  earnest  soul  there  is 
a  work  out  yonder  to  be  done,  and  that  is  the  end.  The  vow 
of  consecration  has  no  meaning  but  in  the  faithful  pursuit  of 
that  end.  The  teacher's  consecration  means  just  this.  It  is 
fulfilled  in  the  nurture  of  souls.  It  is  born  of  the  love  of 
souls,  which  is  a  flame  kindled  in  the  heart  by  the  Divine 
Lover  himself.  It  can  not  rest  in  any  selfish  state — even  in  a 
selfish  ecstasy.  It  belongs  to  a  religion  which  can  live  only 
in  the  service  of  others. 

I,  An  Intelligent  Consecration.  Many  a  man  commits 
himself  to  an  enterprise  that  he  has  not  studied  and  does  not 
know  much  about.  Consequently,  when  he  encounters  diffi- 
Takes  culties  he  hesitates,   and  when  opposition   arises 

Account  of  he  quits.  An  intelligent  consecration  is  made  in 
Obstacles  f^jj  ^j^^  ^f  possible  difficukies  and  toils.  Such 
was  the  devotion  of  Him  who  said,  "For  their  sakes  I  sanc- 
tify myself."  The  Savior  made  His  vow  for  others,  and  He 
knew  that  it  meant  the  cross.  When  the  Sunday-school 
teacher   encounters    heedlessness,    misunderstandings,    volatile 

75 


'je         THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

minds,  and  hard  hearts,  he  has  no  thought  of  surrender, 
because  he  has  forecast  all  these  things.  He  has  stocked  up 
in  advance  with  patience  and  good-will  and  inflexible  de- 
termination. This  is  the  only  way  the  work  can  be  done. 
It  is  work — not  a  Sabbath  pastime. 

Burbank  says:  "But  remember  that  just  as  there  must  be 
in  plant  cultivation  great  patience,  unswerving  devotion  to 
the  truth,  the  highest  motive,  absolute  honesty,  unchanging 
love,  so  must  it  be  in  the  cultivation  of  a  child.  If  it  be 
worth  while  to  spend  ten  years  upon  the  ennoblement  of  a 
plant,  be  it  fruit,  tree,  or  flower,  is  it  not  worth  while  to 
spend  ten  years  upon  a  child  in  this  precious  formative 
period,  fitting  it  for  the  place  it  is  to  occupy  in  the  world? 
Is  not  a  child's  life  vastly  more  precious  than  the  life  of  a 
plant?  Under  the  old  order  of  things  plants  kept  on  their 
course  largely  uninfluenced  in  any  new  direction.  The  plant- 
breeder  changes  their  lives  to  make  them  better  than  they 
ever  were  before.  Here  in  America,  in  the  midst  of  this 
vast  crossing  of  species,  we  have  an  unparalleled  opportunity 
to  work  upon  these  sensitive  human  natures.  We  may 
surround  them  with  right  influences.  We  may  steady  them 
in  right  ways  of  living.  We  may  bring  to  bear  upon  them, 
just  as  we  do  upon  plants,  the  influence  of  light  and  air, 
of  sunshine  and  abundant,  well-balanced  food.  We  may  give 
them  music  and  laughter.  We  may  teach  them  as  we  teach 
the  plants  to  be  sturdy  and  self-reliant.  We  may  be  honest 
with  them,  as  we  are  obliged  to  be  honest  with  plants."  Is 
it  asking  too  much  to  require  as  much  of  the  teachers  of 
souls  as  the  plant-breeders  find  it  necessary  to  give,  and  are 
glad  to  give? 

2.  Two  Illustrations.  The  Sunday-school  work  is  the 
grandest  expression  of  consecration  in  the  world:  real  con- 
secration, we  mean — the  kind  that  the  Master  loves  and  re- 
wards. Think  of  the  million  and  a  half  of  faithful  workers 
in  this  country  who  go  out  every  Sunday  without  pay  to 
train  their  neighbors'  children  in  the  all-important  truths  of 

3 


CONSECRATION  PLUS  PREPARATION  T? 

religion.     The  Sunday-school  was  born  in  consecration,  and 
without  this  it  never  could  have  lived. 

Dr.  Trumbull  tells  us  that  nearly  a  hundred  years  ago, 
in  the  First  Congregational  Church  of  Norwichtown,  Conn., 
a  girl  was  converted  and  joined  the  Church,  Learning  some- 
thing of  Sunday-school  work  being  done  else- 
Examples  where,  she  became  interested  in  it  and  gathered 
Real  Thing  ^  little  school  in  the  galleries  of  her  home 
church.  But  the  church  authorities  deemed  this 
a  desecration  of  God's  day  and  of  God's  house,  and  for- 
bade her  the  use  of  the  church  galleries.  She  withdrew  her 
little  charge  to  a  schoolhouse.  But  public  sentiment,  includ- 
ing the  expressed  opinion  of  her  pastor,  secured  her  ex- 
pulsion from  that  building  also.  It  is  reliably  stated  that 
her  pastor,  passing  the  schoolhouse  while  her  school  was 
in  session,  shook  his  ivory-headed  cane  toward  the  building 
and  exclaimed  with  indignation,  "You  imps  of  Satan,  doing 
the  devil's  work!"  What  would  this  girl  have  done  with- 
out that  spirit  of  devotion  that  makes  martyrs?  She  was 
no  sooner  put  out  of  the  schoolhouse  than  she  brought  her 
school  to  the  church  steps,  where  she  maintained  her  work 
until  at  last  the  church  was  again  opened  to  her,  and  her 
Sunday-school  had  won  its  right  to  live.  This  heroic  girl 
afterward  married  a  young  minister  who,  by  and  by,  took 
her  with  him  to  Ceylon  as  a  missionary's  wnfe. 

The  place  of  consecration  in  the  work  of  to-day  is  illus- 
trated by  another  young  girl  whose  heart  was  touched  by 
the  spiritual  needs  of  ten  boys  in  her  village.  She  was 
very  young  and  had  never  taught,  but  the  boys  wanted  her, 
and  this  she  considered  her  call.  They  were  not  good  boys, 
and  the  little  town  in  which  they  lived,  with  not  over  four 
or  five  thousand  inhabitants,  had  forty  saloons.  She  was 
a  wise  little  woman,  for  she  set  to  work  at  once  to  make 
herself  the  trusted  personal  friend  of  each  one  of  those  boys. 
She  knew  instinctively  that  the  storms  of  adolescence  would 
rise  and  the   floods   would  beat   upon   the  precious   human 


78         THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

houses  intrusted  to  her  care,  and  so  she  dug  deep  into  the 
soHd  confidence  and  affection  of  those  boys.  And  then  came 
the  terrible  ordeal.  The  boys  grew  tall  and  mingled  with 
other  young  men.  They  learned  to  smoke,  and  began  to 
taste  beer,  and  many  were  the  seductions  that  wooed  them 
from  the  Sunday-school.  "I  had  a  dreadful  time  with  those 
boys  for  four  years,"  said  the  little  teacher,  "but  I  could 
not  and  would  not  let  them  go."  Asked  how  she  could 
possibly  hold  them  against  the  evil  influences  that  beset  them, 
she  said :  "Well,  I  followed  them.  As  soon  as  a  boy 
absented  himself  from  the  Sunday-school,  I  went  after  him. 
I  had  their  confidence,  and  they  would  tell  me,  even  when 
they  did  pretty  bad  things,  which  of  course  was  a  great 
help.  They  were  wide-awake,  active  boys,  and  wanted  to 
try  about  every  new  thing,  and  they  did;  but  I  tried  to  keep 
along  with  them.  At  one  time  they  formed  themselves  into 
a  club,  rented  a  room,  and  grew  old  very  fast.  I  used  to 
tremble  in  those  days,  and  had  reason  to !  But  I  did  not 
give  them  up.  It  took  a  good  deal  of  time  to  follow  them 
up.  There  have  been  weeks  in  succession  when  I  was  out 
every  evening  looking  after  my  boys.  But  I  thought  it 
would  pay."  And  it  did.  All  but  two  became  Christians  by 
the  time  this  story  was  told,  and  these  two  were  men  of 
excellent  principles.  The  beloved  teacher  Tholuck,  who  won 
great  numbers  of  students  to  Christ,  was  once  asked  the 
secret  of  his  success.  He  replied,  "By  seeking  and  follow- 
ing." We  can  think  of  no  better  rule  for  the  consecrated 
teacher  than  this.     Is  it  not  the  Master's   own? 

II.    The  Firstfruits  of  Consecration 

These  are  not  teaching.  President  Warren  used  tc  say 
that  a  call  to  preach  is  a  call  to  prepare  to  preach.  And 
so  the  first  thing  that  consecration  impels  to  is  getting  ready 
for  the  work.  There  is  no  denying  that  the  work  is  hard. 
It  is  only  flippant  to  say  that  anybody  can  teach  children 
without  any  trouble.     A  cynical  French  physician   once  ac- 


CONSECRATION   PLUS   PREPARATION  79 

cused  his  brethren  of  putting  drugs  that  they  knew  little 
about  into  bodies  that  they  knew  less  about  to  cure  diseases 
about  which  they  knew  nothing  at  all.     The  Sunday-school 

teacher  must  know  the  Bible  and  the  youth  and 
l!^"ets  to**°"  be  familiar  with  the  laws  of  teaching  and  the 
Preparation     methods  of  work.    Not  one  of  these  is  easy,  and 

yet  all  are  charming  to  him  who  keeps  the  fire 
burning  in  his  heart.  It  is  a  soul-satisfying  pursuit  to  strive 
to  master  the  great  principles  that  will  make  one  wise  and 
strong  and  successful.  Here  is  a  lust  for  power  that  is 
entirely  laudable. 

A  physician  was  driving  through  a  South  Jersey  village 
one  morning  and  saw  a  man  amusing  a  crowd  of  spectators 
with  the  antics  of  a  trick  dog.  The  doctor  pulled  up  and 
watched  the  fun  a  while,  and  then  said:  "My  dear  man, 
how  do  you  manage  to  train  your  dog  that  way?  I  can't 
teach  mine  a  single  trick."  The  man  addressed  looked  up, 
and  with  that  simple,  rustic  look,  replied,  "Well,  you  see 
it 's  this  way — you  have  to  know  more  'n  the  dog  or  you 
can't  learn  him  nuthin'."  There  are  several  streaks  of  wis- 
dom in  this  homely  reply.  The  teacher  must  deal  with 
knowledge,  and  he  must  have  a  larger  stock  in  trade  to  do 
business  with  than  those  with  whom  he  deals.  As  the  dog 
trainer  must  not  only  know  the  tricks,  but  also  the  dog 
and  the  way  to  get  the  tricks  into  him  and  out  of  him,  so 
must  the  teacher's  knowledge  cover  much  more  than  the 
mere  facts  that  he  would  communicate. 

III.    The  Book  We  Teach 

Our  religion  is  a  revelation,  and  the  record  of  this  reve- 
lation is  given  in  a  Book.  Doubtless  God  might  have  re- 
vealed Himself  in  many  another  way,  but  doubtless  He  did 
give  us  His  will  in  the  Holy  Scriptures.  Every  Sunday- 
school  is  a  Bible  school,  whether  it  is  so  called  or  not.  If 
it  does  not  deal  primarily  and  constantly  with  the  Bible,  it 
can  not  prosper  in  the  thing  whereto  God  ordained  it.     There 


8o         THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

are  many  who  have  misgivings  about  this,  and  are  inwardly 
opposed  to  the  thought  of  our  rehgion  as  a  system  of  truth 
that  must  be  known  by  study.  They  tend  continually  to  a 
The  Bible  religion  of  the  emotions,  and  are  impatient  of 
Must  be  the  exaltation  of  knowledge — even  the  knowledge 

Known  by  of  God  and  the  soul.  It  is  only  recently  that 
Study  ^j^g  Bible  has  been  translated  into  the  common 

tongue  so  that  it  is  possible  for  everybody  to  read  it.  One 
huge  Church  still  grudges  its  members  the  Bible  and  tries 
to  keep  it  from  them,  under  the  operation  of  the  maxim, 
"Ignorance  is  the  mother  of  devotion."  Even  among  Prot- 
estants there  has  been  too  much  of  this  feeling.  The  Bible 
teacher's  preparation  must  still  fight  for  recognition,  just  as 
the  preacher  had  to  contend  for  his  special  preparation  in 
the  seminaries.  "Open  thy  mouth  and  I  will  fill  it,"  is  a 
text  that  has  been  quoted  times  without  number  to  dissuade 
the  young  preacher  from  the  study  of  God's  Word.  A 
"spiritual"  religion  is  held  by  many  to  be  able  to  dispense 
with  the  knowledge  that  comes  by  study,  because  "spiritual" 
means  "emotional"  to  them.  The  result  has  been  such  a 
neglect  of  the  Bible  that  it  sometimes  seems  a  wonder  that 
the  Church  has  made  progress.  Not  that  the  Book  has  been 
ignored.  It  has  been  held  in  reverential  awe  as  a  talisman 
or  an  idol :  a  thing  to  be  worshiped  and  defended  at  any 
cost,  provided  it  should  not  be  studied ! 

An  old  legend  will  help  show  this.  There  was  once  a 
saint,  a  holy  man  of  God,  who  taught  and  preached  and 
worked  among  his  little  flock  of  human  beings  day  by  day, 
and  tried  to  lead  them  in  the  paths  of  usefulness  and  duty. 
And  perhaps  they  did  not  always  understand  him;  yet  they 
loved  and  reverenced  him.  And  it  came  to  pass  that  one 
night  as  he  lay  asleep  the  very  innermost  truth  of  God, 
hidden  from  him  before,  came  to  him  in  a  dream  written 
on  three  bars  of  sunlight ;  and  when  he  awoke  he  began 
to  write  the  precious  message  on  a  scroll  of  parchment,  and 
he  wrote  for  many  days.    Then  it  came  to  pass  that  he  was 


CONSECRATION   PLUS    PREPARATION  8i 

bidden  by  the  Spirit  to  journey  into  a  far  country,  and  he 
said  to  his  people :  "I  will  not  leave  you  helpless,  nor  lack- 
ing teaching;  for  the  very  truth  of  God  has  been  revealed 
to  me,  and  I  have  transcribed  it  on  this  roll  of  parchment. 
Live  by  it,  I  beseech  you,  and  it  will  make  you  free,"  After 
many  years,  when  he  returned  to  the  place  of  his  former 
labors,  he  saw  the  people  prostrated  before  the  high  altar, 
and  he  was  glad  in  his  heart,  and  said,  "Truly,  my  people  are 
worshiping  the  Most  High  God."  As  he  neared  the  altar  he 
saw  the  roll  of  parchment  in  the  most  holy  place ;  but  alas !  the 
seals  were  unbroken.  The  people  had  been  worshiping  the 
parchment  all  these  many  years,  and  had  never  broken  the 
seals  to  read  the  innermost  truth  that  was  written  therein. 
He  who  would  teach  must  break  squarely  with  this  tend- 
ency to  idolize  the  Scriptures,  rather  than  to  use  them.  He 
must  pore  over  the  sacred  volume  as  the  merchant  does 
over  his  ledger,  in  a  lifetime  habit.  He  must  gather  all 
available  helps  to  interpretation,  and  help  to  withstand  those 
who  oppose  revisions  of  the  text  and  the  giving  of  the  Word 
to  the  people.  He  will  welcome  the  broader  opportunities 
of  Bible  and  cognate  study  afforded  to-day,  and  will  rejoice 
in  the  new  movement  toward  Bible  study  in  teacher-training 
classes.  President  Grant's  message  to  Dr.  Trumbull  is  an 
utterance  of  comprehensive  importance :  "Hold  on  to  the 
Bible  as  the  sheet-anchor  of  your  liberties:  write  its  pre- 
cepts on  your  hearts,  and  practice  them  in  your  lives.  To 
that  Book  are  we  indebted  for  all  our  progress  in  civilization ; 
to  it  we  must  look  as  the  guide  for  our  future." 

IV.    The  Science  of  Souls 

There  is  need  also  of  a  careful  and  patient  study  of  those 
The  Study  whom  we  would  teach.  This  is  comparatively  a 
of  the  new  branch  of  study,  but  it  has  already  come  to 

Pupil  ^YiQ  rank  of  a  science.     Every  human  soul  is  a 

mystery  that  does  not  give  up  its  secrets  as  the  maple  scat- 
ters its  seeds.     Hamlet's  reproof  of  Guildenstern  is  a  classic 
6  3 


82         THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

illustration  of  this.  He  asks  Guildenstern  to  play  upon  a  pipe. 
The  dialogue  runs  thus : 

Guil. — My  lord,  I  can  not. 

Hani. — I  pray  you. 

Guil. — Believe  me,  I  can  not. 

Ham. — I  do  beseech  you. 

Guil. — I  know  no  touch  of  it,  my  lord. 

Ham. — It  is  as  easy  as  lying:  govern  these  ventages  with 
your  fingers  and  thumb,  give  it  breath  with  your  mouth, 
and  it  will  discourse  most  excellent  music.  Look  you,  these 
are  the  stops. 

Gtiil. — But  these  I  can  not  command  to  any  utterance  of 
harmony.     I  have  not  the  skill. 

Ham. — Why,  look  you  now,  how  unworthy  a  thing  you 
make  of  me !  You  would  play  upon  me ;  you  would  seem 
to  know  my  stops;  you  would  pluck  out  the  heart  of  my 
mystery;  you  would  sound  me  from  the  lowest  note  to 
the  top  of  my  compass:  and  there  is  much  music,  ex- 
cellent voice,  in  this  little  organ;  yet  you  can  not  make  it 
speak.  'Sblood,  do  you  think  I  am  easier  to  be  played  on 
than  a  pipe?  Call  me  what  instrument  you  will,  though  you 
can  fret  me,  yet  you  can  not  play  upon  me. 

Neither  the  parent  nor  the  teacher  can  play,  untaught, 
upon  the  soul  of  the  child.  In  the  special  studies  of  one 
grade  alone  there  will  be  found  an  abundance  of  things  to 
be  learned. 

V.    The  Art  of  Teaching 

This  is  a  third  great  field  for  the  teacher's  study.  Beyond 
all  the  native  aptitudes,  whatever  they  may  be,  there  are 
many  things  concerning  teaching  that  come  by  study.  The 
experiences  of  many  generations  of  teachers  have 
Pedagogy  ^^^"  gathered,  compared,  and  used  for  the  deduc- 
tion of  great  principles  that  are  full  of  help  to 
the  teacher  of  to-day.  We  may  greatly  enrich  our  own  ability 
to  teach  by  appropriating  the  things  that  others  have  learned. 


CONSECRATION  PLUS  PREPARATION  83 

Both  their  successes  and  their  faikires  may  be  found  in- 
structive. 

For  pursuing  this  work  there  are  now  available  such 
facilities  as  are  furnished  by  text-books,  conventions,  and 
institutes.  A  great  efflorescence  of  these  for  the  Sunday- 
school  teacher  marks  our  day,  and  they  are  increasing  in 
number  and  value.  We  have  almost  come  to  the  time  when 
any  teacher,  however  isolated  or  limited  in  resources,  may 
enjoy  the  advantage  of  a  real  training. 

VI.    Incentives  to  Preparation 

Almost  any  field  will  repay  in  its  harvest  whatever  was 
expended  upon  it  in  the  way  of  fertilization  and  tillage. 
The  richest  harvests  in  the  world  come  from  human  souls. 
The  Inasmuch  as  the  Sunday-school  teacher  deals  with 

Teacher's  the  best  Book  in  the  world  and  the  grandest 
Reward  revelations  that  heaven  ever  gave,  with  the  high- 

est and  purest  virtues  as  their  end,  and  the  presence  and  the 
aid  of  the  Master  in  the  work,  it  is  to  be  expected  that 
he,  if  successful,  will  attain  to  the  largest  rewards  for  his 
toil. 

The  Bertillion  experts  tell  us  that  the  imprint  of  a  baby's 
thumb  will  serve  to  identify  the  grown  man  years  after,  when 
his  imprint  is  placed  beside  the  former  one.  It  is  given  to 
the  teacher  of  spiritual  truth  to  trace  lines  upon  the  growing 
soul  that  will  never  be  obliterated.  Agassiz  was  one  of  the 
most  industrious  of  scientists  and  he  achieved  a  great  work 
in  his  life.  But  when  he  was  asked  what  he  considered  his 
greatest  work  in  America,  he  replied,  "The  training  of  three 
men."  Says  Holland,  "We  can  raise  more  Christians  by 
juvenile  Christian  culture  than  by  adult  conversion  a  thousand 
to  one."  The  teacher's  work  is  pure,  delightful,  of  certain 
fruition,  and  of  permanent  results  in  soul  culture. 

It  is  the  hope  of  the  Church  and  the  Nation  as  well. 
Without  it  both  religion  and  patriotism  perish.  It  does  the 
work  of  all  reforms  and  missions  and  philanthropies.     And 


84         THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

it    reacts    in   unnumbered    blessings    upon   the   teacher's    own 
soul. 

Lesson  Outline: 

I.  The  Teacher's  Consecration. 

11.   The  FiRSTFRUiTs  of  Consecration. 

III.  The  Book  We  Teach. 

IV.  The  Science  of  Souls. 
V.   The  Art  of  Teaching. 

VI.    Incentives  to  Preparation. 

Topics  for  Special  Study: 

1.  Lessons  for  the  teacher  from  the  plant  breeder. 

2.  The  contributions  of  psychology  to  the  teaching  art. 

Topics  for  Class  Discussion: 

1.  What  makes  consecration  real  and  effective? 

2.  What  is  the  source  of  consecration? 

3.  The  Sunday-school  as  an  example  of  consecration. 

4.  What  is  the  first  great  task  that  consecration  urges? 

5.  The  content  of  spirituality. 

6.  The  importance  of  knowing  the  Bible. 

7.  What  can  we  do  to  stimulate  Bible  study  by  teachers  ? 

8.  Why  is  the  Bible  often  idolized  rather  than  studied? 

9.  The  value  to   the  teacher   of  the   study  of  human 

nature. 
10.    The  value  of  a  study  of  the  teaching  art. 

II.  The  faithful  teacher's  rewards. 


CHAPTER  VI 

HOW  TO  PLAN  THE  WORK 


CHAPTER  VI 
HOW  TO  PLAN  THE  WORK 

I.  Taking  Aim 

Many  years  ago  Dr.  Buckley  gave  the  following  advice 
to  students : 

1.  Acquire   thoroughly.     This   puts   the   knowledge   in. 

2.  Review   frequently.     This   keeps   the   knowledge   in. 

3.  Plan  your  work.     This  begins  well. 

4.  Work  your  plan.     This  finishes  well. 

5.  Never  think  of  self.     Selfishness  spoils  all. 

6.  Never  look  back.     Waste  no   time  over   failures. 

7.  Earn,  save,  give  all  you  can  for  Jesus.     Happiness. 

Several  of  these  valuable  rules  are  right  in  our  line.  All 
that  we  have  said  and  shall  say  in  this  book  presupposes  a 
plan  for  the  teacher's  work.     The  plan  not  only  enables  us 

to  begin  well,  but  there  is  no  good  beginning 
Essential         without  it,  and  there  is  no  good  ending  without 

the  right  beginning.  A  fine  rifle,  a  good  eye, 
and  a  well-set  target  would  all  go  for  naught  unless  the 
marksman  should  take  aim.  We  take  our  aim  by  the  aid  of 
a  plan.  The  teacher  needs  this  as  much  as  the  builder  needs 
his  blueprints.  Without  these  he  would  hardly  begin  the 
building  with  the  roof,  but  teachers  sometimes  do  just  this 
kind  of  a  thing. 

II.  The  Law  of  the  Grade 

Perhaps  this  is  the  first  thing  to  heed  in  laying  out  the 
work :  the  lesson  must  be  adapted  to  the  learner.  This  is 
only  one  statement  of  a  principle  of  grading,  which  is  even 
yet  contending  with  custom,  prejudice,  sloth,  and  sundry  other 

87  3 


88         THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

enemies  in  the  Sunday-school,  though  it  has  long  been  vic- 
torious in  all  other  schools.  But  the  law  of  the  grade  is 
God's  law,  not  ours,  and  it  will  finally  compel  the  obedience 
The  Lesson  ^^  ^^^  "^^^  would  do  God's  work.  It  is  the  same 
Must  be  principle  that   compels   him  who   would   open   a 

Adapted  to  locked  box,  not  merely  to  get  a  key,  but  to  get 
the  Learner      ^j^^  j^^y .  ^^^^  jg^  ^^^  ^^^  j^^y  ^f  ^  thousand  that 

was  made  for  that  lock.  If  a  man  should  have  a  library 
with  different  locks  on  the  bookcases  and  drawers  and  closets, 
and  should  order  the  keys  all  alike,  "because  keys  of  the 
same  size  look  so  much  nicer  on  the  ring,"  we  should  think 
that  he  cared  more  for  a  trifle  than  for  getting  into  his 
closets  and  cases.  This  passion  for  uniformity  is  sometimes 
strong  enough  to  become  an  idolatry  in  the  Church,  but  it 
must  be  resolutely  antagonized  by  the  living  teacher.  He 
is  not  working  for  outward  show  or  for  mechanical  effects 
of  any  kind.  His  aim  is  teaching,  and  he  must  insist  upon 
the  real  requisites  for  teaching.  The  very  beginning  of  his 
success  is  the  choice  of  a  subject  and  a  method  of  treatment 
fitted  to  his  pupil. 

I.     Nascent  periods.     We   have  learned  that   the  indi- 
vidual varies   surprisingly  as   he  passes   from  one   stage   of 
growth  to  another.     At  least  two  cardinal  principles  compel 
us  to  order  our  work  in  grades :  God  has  graded 
Fitting  the       i-ruth,  and  He  has   graded  the   child.     Nothing 

the^Age  ^^  ^^^^  ^^^  ^^  *^   ^^  ^^^  *^  ^"^  ^^^  ^^  *^^   ^^^^^ 

truth  to  the  right  age.     This  right  age  is  called 

the  nascent  period  for  that  truth.  Great  principles  and  proc- 
esses can  not  be  taught  just  as  well  at  one  time  of  life  as 
at  another,  but  there  is  a  right  time  for  each.  If  this  is 
improved,  all  goes  well;  but  if  the  nascent  period  is  passed 
by,  the  soul  will  be  at  a  disadvantage  as  to  that  knowledge 
permanently.  These  periods  of  special  aptitudes  are  never 
out  of  the  live  teacher's  sight.  By  regarding  them  he  is 
able  to  do  with  comparative  ease  things  that  vex  and  baffle 
the  heedless  teacher.    Pattee  says;    "There  is  one  period,  for 

3 


HOW  TO  PLAN  THE  WORK  89 

instance,  when  play  must  be  a  dominating  element  in  all 
studies,  another  when  memory  is  strongest,  another  when 
biography  is  best  taught,  and  still  another  when  chivalric 
ideals  and  the  great  altruistic  principles  of  Christianity  ap- 
peal with  almost  resistless  force.  Secular  education  has  recog- 
nized this  fact  and  has  arranged  with  care  the  sequence  and 
the  grouping  of  studies  in  its  curriculum." 

2.  Middle  adolescence  has  its  aptitudes.  There  is  no 
period  more  strongly  marked  than  that  of  our  present  study. 
There   is   not   one   that   needs   more   careful    study   to   know 

and  more  patience  to  handle.  There  are  not 
Our  Period  ^j-^jy  j^^^  ^j^^  Startling  manifestations  of  the  emo- 
ciai  Demands  ^^onal    and    the    volitional    life,    but    also    of   the 

intellect.  It  is  easier  to  teach  the  wrong  things 
and  in  the  wrong  way  now  than  at  any  other  period.  Bad 
teaching  commonly  means  the  loss  of  the  youth  from  the 
class  and  the  school.  The  effect  of  this  teaching  failure  is 
seen  in  the  alarming  defection  of  our  young  people  from  the 
Church.  In  the  awakened  attention  of  teachers  to  the  needs 
of  the  young  lies  the  best  hope  the  Church  has  for  the  future. 

3.  Some  traits  of  middle  adolescence. 

(a)  There  is  a  new  self-consciousness  in  this  period.  The 
youth  is  more  highly  individualized,  and  he  recognizes  this. 
He  knows  that  his  soul  is  enlarging  more  rapidly  than  ever 

before,  and  it  brings  to  him  new  visions,  new 
Its  Special  sensations,  new  exhilarations.  He  sometimes  ap- 
teristics  pears  a  stranger  to  himself,  and  can  stand  off 

and  make  observations  of  this  strange  new  crea- 
ture that  stands  in  his  place  and  carries  his  memories.  But 
he  never  repels  the  new  elements  of  manhood.  He  welcomes 
them  with  all  his  heart.  He  puts  them  on  like  a  garment, 
and  they  are  soon  an  unnoticed  portion  of  his  enlarging  per- 
sonality. 

(b)  There  is  a  new  independence.  A  man  is  not  made 
perfect  in  leading-strings :  he  is  brought  on  by  being  cut 
loose  from  these.     The  young  man's  freedom  makes  a  deep 


90         THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

impression  upon  himself — probably  an  exaggerated  one,  for 
most  things  tend  to  extremes  in  this  period.  The  adolescent 
is  starting  out  to  establish  a  new  center,  and  he  locates  it 
within  himself.  He  wishes  to  decide  all  things,  and  when 
he  has  decided  he  is  utterly  impatient  of  control.  There  is 
no  time  when  the  evils  of  self-will  are  more  perilous  than 
now,  for  the  youth  lacks  the  restraints  of  authority  on  the 
one  hand  and  of  experience  on  the  other. 

(c)  The  sense  of  freedom  gives  rise  to  skepticism.  "Why 
should  one  believe  anything  that  he  has  not  investigated  him- 
self? Why  should  a  man  be  told  what  to  believe?  Suppose 
things  have  been  believed  a  long  time :  does  the  passing  of 
years  make  false  things  true?  Suppose  many  wise  and  good 
men  have  accepted  these  things:  they  are  welcome  to  them!" 
Criticism  goes  with  doubt.  The  youth  is  not  to  blame  for 
this.  Every  brain-cell  in  him  cries  out  for  inquiring  and 
probing  and  testing.  He  knows  that  whatsoever  makes  mani- 
fest is  light,  and  so  he  turns  on  the  fiercest  kind  of  lights 
at  any  and  all  times.  There  is  something  admirable  about 
this  disposition — its  devotion  to  the  truth.  There  is  some- 
times danger  that  the  later  years  may  dim  the  luster  of 
perfect  loyalty  to  the  truth  under  pressure  of  other  in- 
terests. 

(d)  It  is  the  age  of  expression.  The  youth  has  acquired 
quite  a  stock  of  words  and  ideas,  and  he  is  beginning  to  be 
both  broad  and  fluent.  He  is  generalizing  now,  and  he 
makes  use  of  the  concepts  and  principles  that  he  has  formed. 
This  reacts  upon  him  and  stimulates  him  still  farther,  until 
he  is  eager  for  broad  views  of  things  and  delights  in  far- 
reaching  generalizations.  He  likes  to  burrow  along  under- 
neath the  surface  and  trace  effects  to  their  causes  and  fore- 
cast coming  effects  also. 

(e)  He  is  especially  active  in  his  spiritual  life.  Though 
this  may  not  be  superficially  evident,  it  is  certain.  The  heart 
of  the  youth  is  tender  and  as  quick  as  the  apple  of  an  eye. 
His  conscience  is  awake  and  speaks  loud.     His  sense  of  de- 


HOW  TO  PLAN  THE  WORK  91 

pendence  is  often  painfully  acute.  His  prayers  are  more 
frequent  and  more  plaintive  than  any  one  knows. 

III.    Suitable  Subjects  for  Study 

A  question  may  be  raised  here  as  to  the  right  of  the 
teacher  to  choose  the  work  for  his  class.  But  it  is  clear 
that  it  is  both  his  right  and  his  duty  to  accept  only  those 
The  Teacher  ^T^^terials  and  methods  that  he  knows  are  right 
Should  Pro-  for  his  purpose.  No  idol  of  uniformity  ought 
vide  Proper  to  be  set  up  in  the  holy  temple  of  truth,  v/hich 
Lesson  every  Sunday-school  ought  to  be.     There  is  no 

^  ^"^  special   virtue    in    ''falling   in   line,"    though    this 

may  help  the  looks  of  things  somewhat.  There  is  no  danger 
that  the  wise  teacher  will  needlessly  introduce  variations  into 
a  school,  but  there  is  danger  that  an  earnest  worker  may 
be  forced  to  struggle  with  lessons  that  he  knows  are  not  the 
best.  In  such  cases  he  should  insist  upon  the  substitution 
of  the  best  lessons.  There  is  no  reason  why  any  single  class 
in  a  school  should  not  use,  for  instance,  the  Graded  Lessons, 
if  the  other  classes  prefer  the  Uniform.  The  great  thing 
to  remember  is  that  the  Sunday-school  does  not  exist  to 
maintain  anybody's  lessons,  and  that  the  souls  of  the  pupils 
are  that  to  which  all  things  should  be  subordinated.  At  any 
rate,  in  the  council,  or  whatever  the  meetings  of  officers 
and  teachers  may  be  called,  the  teachers  form  the  majority 
and  can  usually  procure  the  adoption  of  the   right   things. 

There  is  a  wide  and  rich  variety  of  subject-matter  in  the 
Scriptures  suited  to  all  the  grades  and  all  the  years.  It  is 
easy  to  see  that  the  adolescent  has  passed  beyond  the  period 
of  fables  and  stories  and  catechisms.  It  is  also  unprofitable 
to  ask  him  to  interest  himself  in  detached  and  fragmentary 
Scriptures.  He  will  take  most  kindly  to  subjects  that  may 
be  studied  in  their  entirety,  and  he  will  naturally  take  an 
interest  in  what  he  can  analyze  and  classify.  Any  of  the 
single  books  of  the  Bible  can  be  taken  up  in  this  way.  No 
time  need  be  set   for  finishing  it,  but  the  teacher   and   the 


92  THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

class  may  work  their  easy  way  along  until  they  have  to- 
gether accomplished  a  satisfactory  result.  Questions  of  the 
origin  of  these  books  and  the  circumstances  under  which  they 
were  written,  also  of  the  manifest  aim  of  the  writer,  are 
appropriate  and  interesting. 

It  is  just  such  work  as  this  that  engrosses  these  same 
young  people  in  their  high  schools  and  colleges.  They  are 
familiar  with  such  inquiries  and  methods  in  other  literatures, 
and  consequently  they  value  them  in  Bible  study.  These 
books  may  be  taken  up  as  they  stand  In  our  Bible,  or,  better, 
they  may  be  taken  up  in  logical  or  chronological  order. 
They  may  be  grouped  together  as  they  naturally  belong,  and 
such  groups  as  the  Pentateuch,  the  prophets,  the  wisdom  lit- 
erature, the  Gospels,  or  the  Epistles  may  be  studied  sepa- 
rately as  possessing  common  and  attractive  qualities.  The 
histories  of  the  Bible  may  be  taken  up  in  a  connected  way: 
the  history  of  Israel  and  that  of  each  of  its  periods;  the 
history  of  the  patriarchs,  of  the  prophets,  of  the  priests,  of 
the  ministry  of  Jesus,  and  of  the  Early  Church  are  examples. 
There  will  be  abundant  opportunity  here  to  correlate  and 
compare  events  in  other  nations  that  bear  upon  the  career 
of  Israel.  Many  of  our  youth  are  busy  with  these  studies 
in  their  other  work,  and  delight  to  draw  upon  them  for  the 
elucidation  of  this.  Then,  there  is  the  rare  company  of 
Bible  personages  whose  biographies  teem  with  the  most  fas- 
cinating and  fruitful  lessons.  Of  course  our  young  people 
have  had  these  before,  in  an  elementary  way.  But  they  can 
now  take  up  these  characters  with  a  deeper  insight  into  their 
motives  and  achievements.  They  will  wish  to  analyze  their 
characters  and  estimate  the  measure  of  the  influences  that 
fell  upon  them  from  all  sides.  Their  historic  value  also  will 
be  sought  in  what  they  succeeded  in  accomplishing  in  per- 
manent influence  upon  Israel  and  the  world. 

Growing  out  of  this  will  naturally  come  the  study  of 
personal  duties  and  obligations.  They  are  always  best  taught 
from  living  persons,  and  there  are  none  to  be  found  in  any 

3 


HOW  TO  PLAN  THE  WORK  93 

literature  like  those  of  the  Bible.  The  piety  of  Abraham, 
the  recklessness  of  Esau,  the  craftiness  of  Jacob,  the  gen- 
erosity of  Joseph,  the  majesty  of  Moses,  the  kingcraft  of 
David  are  Old  Testament  illustrations  of  ethical  value  that 
can  never  be  touched  without  the  highest  degree  of  profit. 
And  the  personal  qualities  of  the  men  and  women  of  the 
New  Testament  are  of  matchless  teaching  power.  Let  it 
never  be  forgotten  in  the  preparation  of  work  for  adolescents 
that  piety  and  the  moralities,  should  be  amply  provided  for. 
It  is  a  mistake  to  suppose  that  the  youth  will  be  averse 
to  these.  If  they  are  wisely  handled  they  will  be  taken  by 
him  with  keener  appetite  than  any  other  lessons. 

IV.    Methods  of  Class  Work 

These  also  must  accord  with  the  age  that  we  are  dealing 
with.     They  will  regard  the  independence  and  the  sensitive- 
ness to  control  that  we  have  noted,  and  will  show  consider- 
able   relaxation    from    earlier    strictness.      There 
Special  ^jjj  ^g  jggg  distinction  between  teacher  and  pupils. 

Demanded  '^^^  teacher  will  identify  himself  as  much  as 
possible  with  his  pupils,  and  they  will  be  students 
together.  What  is  necessary  in  the  way  of  guidance  will 
be  unobtrusive,  and  if  there  is  a  strong  tendency  to  wander, 
under  pressure  of  an  adolescent  impulse,  the  teacher  will 
very  likely  wander,  too,  for  a  while.  Anything  like  co- 
ercion or  dictation  he  will  sedulously  avoid,  trusting  mainly 
to  suggestion  and  information  to  guide  his  pupils  aright. 
The  preaching  method  will  be  out  of  the  question,  and  the 
lecture  method  used  only  in  exceptional  instances.  Though 
he  may  vary  his  program  from  time  to  time,  he  will  usually 
follow  the  conversational  style,  and  place  great  dependence 
upon  questions  and  illustrations.  It  will  be  quite  practicable 
to  get  home  work  done  by  exciting  an  interest  in  the  work  in 
hand.  Such  work  should  be  assigned  as  a  voluntary  task, 
and  it  should  be  carefully  aided  by  hints  as  to  sources  and 
selections. 

3 


94         THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

When  these  are  presented  to  the  class  they  should  receive 
good  attention,  with  class  discussion  and  a  meed  of  praise. 
The  adolescent  is  a  great  admirer  of  intelligence  and  is 
keen  to  recognize  it  in  his  teacher.  The  leader  will  make 
the  follower.  Some  of  the  teacher's  best  work  will  be  the 
preparation  of  work  for  the  pupils,  individually  considered, 
according  to  their  abilities  and  circumstances.  A  little  in- 
genuity here,  mixed  with  the  ever-necessary  sympathy,  will 
go  a  long  way  toward  waking  up  the  pupil's  mind  and 
causing  him  to  like  his  work.  The  devices  that  may  thus 
be  employed  are  so  various  and  so  particular  in  their  appli- 
cation that  it  would  be  impracticable  to  attempt  to  detail 
any  here.  As  a  general  thing  the  teacher  may  be  confident 
that  they  will  be  suggested  to  him  by  the  necessities  of 
the  time.  And  the  teacher  who  would  succeed  with  a  method 
is  generally  the  one  who  has  an  eye  to  discover  it.  The 
range  is  wide,  and  the  restrictions  only  such  as  grow  out 
of  due  concessions  to  the  impulsiveness,  the  independence, 
and  the  frank  criticisms  of  the  adolescent. 

V.    The  Lesson  Plan 

It  may  be  said  briefly  concerning  the  lesson  that  this 
should  have  its  special  arrangement  for  every  class  exercise. 
The  main  line  of  teaching  appropriate  to  the  class  should 
^^  be  first  determined;  then  the  subordinate  teach- 

Appropriate  ings  and  applications.  If  the  lesson  is  a  specified 
Plan  for  passage  of  Scripture,  it  should  be  analyzed  care- 

Every  Lesson  f^^y  f^j.  presentation  to  the  class.  Suitable  illus- 
trations should  be  sought  and  selected  with  special  reference 
to  their  moral  and  spiritual  effects.  The  point  of  contact 
and  the  approach  should  be  regarded,  as  in  the  earlier  grades. 
Discussion  is  almost  sure  to  arise  in  any  class  of  interested 
youth,  and  therefore  this  is  to  be  welcomed.  The  best  way 
to  control  it  and  keep  it  within  agreeable  bounds  is  for  the 
teacher  to  select  one  or  more  topics  for  discussion  in  advance, 
and  have  them  ready  at  the  proper  time. 


HOW  TO  PLAN  THE  WORK  95 

VI.    The  Giver's  Blessing 

There  is  no  better  illustration  than  the  teacher  of  the 
greater  blessing  that  comes  to  the  giver  than  to  the  receiver. 
The    faithful    preparatory   work    that    the   teacher    does    will 

bring  him  more  unadulterated  satisfaction  than 
The  Faithful  ^^  ^^  learned  the  best  day  he  ever  enjoyed  as 
Gatn  ^'  ^         ^  pupil.     It   is  true   that   the   work    required   of 

him  is  hard,  but  it  brings  its  own  abundant  re- 
ward. A  young  man  in  Philadelphia  was  persuaded  to  take 
a  class  with  the  promise  that  he  should  be  released  if  he 
found,  after  faithful  effort,  that  he  was  not  succeeding.  He 
agreed  to  begin  on  every  lesson  as  soon  as  he  had  taught 
the  preceding.  This  is  the  experience  he  had:  "When  I 
looked  over  the  next  lesson  on  Sunday  afternoon,  I  saw  to 
my  chagrin  that  there  was  nothing  in  it.  My  Monday's 
study  was  little  better,  and  I  was  glum  enough.  On  Tuesday 
I  usually  saw  some  little  thing  that  I  could  use  in  it.  On 
Wednesday  I  got  interested  in  it.  On  Thursday  I  found 
all  I  wanted  in  it.  On  Friday  I  got  that  lesson.  On  Satur- 
day it  got  me,  and  on  Sunday  I  had  to  teach  it  or  die!" 
Every  teacher  knows  something  of  this  joy  that  is  his  alone : 
the  exultation  of  wielding  victoriously  the  Sword  of  the 
Spirit,  with  the  inward  sense  that  he  has  the  approbation  of 
the  Master. 

Lesson  Outline: 

I.   Taking  Aim. 
H.   The  Law  of  the  Grade. 
HL    Suitable  Subjects  for  Study. 
IV.    Methods  of  Class  Work. 
V.   The  Lesson  Plan. 
VI.   The  Giver's  Blessing. 

Topics  for  Special  Study: 

1.  Intellectual  traits  of  middle  adolescence. 

2.  Religious  significance  of  middle  adolescence. 


96         THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

Topics  for  Class  Discussion: 

1.  The  general  value  of  a  plan  of  teaching. 

2.  What  is  the  law  of  the  grade? 

3.  What  are  nascent  periods? 

4.  What  two  grand  principles  underlie  grading? 

5.  What  are  the  aptitudes  of  middle  adolescence? 

6.  The  traits  of  middle  youth. 

7.  The  courses  of  study — what  and  by  whom  fixed; 

8.  How  control  young  people  in  the  class? 

9.  Personal  experiences  in  class  methods. 

10.  What  about  class  discussion? 

11.  The  teacher's  personal  gains  from  his  lesson  prepa- 

ration. 


CHAPTER  VII 

HOW  TO  ANALYZE  A  LESSON 


CHAPTER  VII 
HOW  TO  ANALYZE  A  LESSON 

I.    Knowing  the  Lesson 

1.  Importance.  Much  has  been  said  about  the  value  of 
knowledge  to  the  teacher,  but  it  is  scarcely  possible  to  over- 
estimate it.     As  a  general  thing  the  teacher  who  does  not 

know  the  work  and  know  it  thoroughly  will 
No  Possible  faii^  ^^^  fail  at  the  start.  He  must  know  it  in 
Study  ^^^  ways :  what  it  means,  and  how  to  teach  it. 

With  all  that  sympathy  and  good-will  may  do 
for  him,  and  with  all  the  aids  of  the  best  facilities  and 
methods,  there  is  no  escape  from  the  simple,  old-fashionecj 
necessity  of  study.  The  first  virtue  of  the  teacher  is  knowl- 
edge, and  he  has  to  get  his  knowledge  by  hard  and  patient 
work.  So  much  depends  upon  analysis  that  we  must  take 
a  lesson  for  its  study. 

2.  Knowledge  is  deep.  This  does  not  mean  difficult 
exactly,  but  it  does  involve  patience.  He  who  skims  the 
surface  does  not  know.     He  who  works  a  v/hile  and  gets  a 

fair  idea  of  the  subject  does  not  know  as  the 
fort  Required  teacher    must    know.      His    knowledge    must    be 

thorough,  and  he  must  take  time  to  make  it  so. 
It  is  always  surprising  to  find  how  deep  the  truth  is.  One 
may  keep  on  going  down  and  down.  The  deeper  we  go 
the  more  easy  it  will  be  for  us  to  win  our  pupils,  for  there 
is  nothing  that  catches  a  young  mind  as  quickly  as  the  light 
of  knowledge  shining  in  the  teacher's  face.  Learners  are 
usually  thirsty  enough  to  know  it  very  quickly  if  the  springs 

99  ^ 


100       THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

are  running  low.  Professor  Lounsberry,  of  Yale  University, 
said  that  his  experience  in  the  class-room  had  taught  him  "the 
infinite  capacity  of  the  human  mind  to  withstand  the  intro- 
duction of  knowledge."  This  suggests  another  need:  the 
teacher  must  be  able  to  dislodge  the  native  resistance  of 
many  minds  to  the  truth,  to  fight  it  in  through  prejudice 
and  error  and  sloth.  He  is  like  a  dentist:  for  every  little 
obstacle  he  must  have  just  the  rightly  crooked  tool  to  work 
around  it.  He  must  be  fully  equipped  for  all  emergencies. 
3.  The  first  aim.  A  master  rhetorician  has  told  us  that 
the  first  quality  of  style  is  clearness.  This  is  against  the 
ideas  of  some,  who  might  name  originality  or  brilliancy  or 

word-painting.  But  the  homely  quality  of  clear- 
Clearness  j^ggg  outranks  everything  else.  The  very  object 
Essential         '^^  language  is  to  communicate  thought,  and  thus 

an  open  channel  must  first  be  sought.  The  win- 
dow that  illustrates  this  is  not  made  of  glass  gayly  colored 
by  cunning  men,  but  of  the  clear  glass  that  lets  in  the  light 
of  heaven  in  its  unstained  purity.  The  word  "understanding" 
implies  this  first :  a  clearing  away  of  the  mists  of  ignorance 
and  half-knowledge.  There  are  all  stages  in  this  process. 
A  teacher  may  go  before  his  class  with  but  a  slight  clearing 
away  of  these  mists,  or  they  may  be  largely  or  almost  wholly 
dissipated.  Here  is  where  the  element  of  time  comes  in. 
Patience  can  do  wonders  for  a  student.  While  he  waits  and 
gazes  the  slowly  developing  thought-pictures  form  and  clear 
and  finally  stand  forth  in  enticing  beauty.  When  President 
Garfield  was  a  teacher  in  Hiram  College,  a  learner  asked 
him  the  secret  of  the  art  of  arousing  and  holding  the  at- 
tention of  pupils.  His  answer  was :  "See  to  it  that  you 
do  not  feed  your  pupils  on  cold  victuals.  Take  the  lesson 
into  your  own  mind  anew,  rethink  it,  and  then  serve  it 
hot  and  steaming,  and  your  pupils  will  have  an  appetite  for 
your  instruction  and  you  will  have  their  attention."  Accord- 
ing to  this  master,  it  is  necessary  to  maintain  the  studious 
habit  in  order  to  keep  the  pictures  clear. 


HOW  TO  ANALYZE  A  LESSON  loi 

II.    A  Bit  of  Psychology 

1.  The  formation  of  concepts.     Our  minds  are  given 
to  make  thoughts  for  us.     Thought  has  been  defined  as  "the 
power  of  the  soul  to  form  and  rationally  apply  general  con- 
ceptions."    Now,  this  forming  of  a  "general  con- 

The  First  ception,"   or  idea,  or  notion,   is   the   simplest   act 

TmnkTng  °^  thinking.    For  example,  "book"  is  such  a  con- 

cept. When  we  say  "book"  we  do  not  think  of 
any  particular  book,  such  as  a  small  book,  a  thick  book,  a 
red  book,  or  a  spelling  book;  but  we  do  raise  in  our  mind 
something  that  carries  all  the  essentials  of  a  book  with  it. 
It  is  not  a  particular  book,  but  a  general  book,  and  it 
makes  no  difference  that  it  has  no  real  existence.  We  call 
it  the  general  concept  of  a  book,  and  such  concepts  as  these 
are  the  things  that  continually  fill  our  minds. 

This  formation  of  concepts,  familiar  as  it  is,  is  by  no 
means  a  simple  process.  There  are  at  least  six  elements 
in  it:  (i)  comparison,  (2)  discrimination,  (3)  analysis,  (4) 
abstraction,  (5)  synthesis,  and  (6)  generaHzation.  If  we  may 
borrow  "analysis"  we  may  perhaps  make  this  process  plain. 
Take  our  book  again.  When  a  certain  book  is  presented  to 
us,  we  see  it ;  that  is,  we  form  an  image  of  it  which  is 
called  a  sense-concept.  Then  comes  another  book,  and  many 
more,  each  forming  its  sense-concept.  Somewhere  along  here 
the  mind  compares  these  and  sees  wherein  they  are  alike 
and  wherein  they  are  different.  It  then  analyzes  the  images, 
noting  their  common  elements,  and  abstracts  each :  that  is, 
thinks  it  apart  from  the  rest  of  the  elements,  and  notices 
it  as  a  separate  thing.  Then  it  goes  back  and  gathers  up 
the  elements  that  are  common  to  all  books  by  synthesis,  and 
thinks  this  as  the  general  concept,  "book,"  by  what  we  call 
generalization.  It  is  no  wonder  that  we  have  to  go  to  psy- 
chology to  learn  what  we  are  doing  all  the  time  and  have 
become  so  expert  in  doing.  We  do  this  kind  of  work  so 
much  that  we  do  it  unconsciously. 

2.  How   to   clear  up   our   thought.     The   answer   can 


102       THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

be  readily  given  now.  The  secret  of  clearness  is  analysis, 
taking  a  thing  apart  so  that  we  can  study  and  understand  it 
in  its  simples.  This  process  of  analysis  is  one  of  the  elemen- 
tary acts  of  the  mind,  and  has  not  to  be  learned. 
of^Ana^sis  What  we  have  to  do  is  to  apply  it  to  the  subject 
that  we  are  studying.  For  just  as  one  book  may 
be  analyzed,  so  may  all  things  that  are  complex  be  separated 
into  their  component  parts :  as  a  lesson,  a  sermon,  a  poem,  a 
picture,  a  parable,  a  chapter  of  the  Bible,  or  a  book  of  the 
Bible.  Indeed,  it  would  be  hard  to  find  anything  that  is  not 
complex  enough  to  be  analyzed. 

When  a  passage  of  Scripture,  therefore,  is  presented  to  us 
for  our  study,  we  must  analyze  it,  if  we  wish  to  understand 
it;  that  is,  if  we  would  have  it  clear  before  our  minds;  also, 
if  we  would  find  out  the  best  way  to  teach  it.  These  lessons 
vary  greatly.  Some  are  easy  to  analyze,  and  some  are  hard. 
Some  are  a  unit,  and  others  give  us  what  are  really  two  or 
even  three  or  four  separate  topics.  Some  have  one  strongly 
marked  head,  with  several  sub-heads.  Others  may  have  a 
number  of  heads  of  equal  rank,  with  sub-heads  under  each. 
It  is  the  work  of  the  analyst  not  by  any  means  to  make  divi- 
sions, but  to  find  them.  Any  artificial  taint  ruins  such  an  out- 
line, for  it  should  do  nothing  but  mirror  the  form  rigidly. 
It  is  well  to  beware  of  personal  peculiarities  in  this  kind  of 
work.  There  is  danger  of  projecting  into  it  the  imperfec- 
tions of  our  own  minds,  for  they  tend  to  work  in  the  same 
way,  while  the  varieties  of  lessons  are  many.  There  was 
once  a  Sunday-school  paper  that  regularly  divided  the  lesson, 
week  by  week,  into  three  chief  parts,  and  these  into  three 
each,  and  these  again  into  three  others.  It  is  easy  to  see  that 
no  series  of  lessons  could  run  that  way.  Professor  Phelps 
tells  us  that  it  was  an  ancient  conceit  of  the  pulpit  to  assign 
to  divisions  some  one  of  the  "sacred"  numbers — five,  seven, 
twelve,  or  even  forty !  The  most  common  of  these  artificial 
divisions  was  that  in  honor  of  the  Trinity.  The  mediaeval 
mind  saw  trinity  in  everything,  from  the  Mosaic  record  of 


HOW  TO  ANALYZE  A  LESSON  103 

creation  down  to  a  three-leaved  clover.  The  paper  referred 
to  above  showed  this  tendency.  One  of  the  developments  of 
this  forced  reverence  was  the  trinitarian  division  of  sermons. 
No  matter  what  the  subject  or  its  mode  of  treatment,  the 
sermon  must  be  cropped  or  stretched  in  Procrustean  fashion 
to  just  three  parts;  no  more,  no  less.  There  is  an  old 
sermon  of  this  kind  approved  by  an  association  of  clergymen 
for  consisting  of  three  general  divisions,  each  of  which  had 
three  subdivisions,  each  of  these  developed  with  three  lead- 
ing thoughts,  all  followed  by  three  inferences  in  the  conclu- 
sion, and  ending  with  the  trinitarian  doxology.  The  preacher 
should  have  delivered  it  the  third  Sunday  of  the  third  month, 
on  a  triangular  platform,  and  in  a  three-cornered  hat. 

All  this  is  ridiculous — and  worse.  To  have  clear  thoughts 
we  must  lug  nothing  into  the  complexity  of  the  lesson,  but 
simply  disentangle  the  threads  that  we  find.  If  this  is  hard, 
remember  that  practice  will  increase  skill  rapidly.  Some 
minds  are  apt  in  analysis.  An  analytical  mind  is  one  of 
God's  best  gifts.  But  let  no  one  neglect  this  gift  which 
every  mind  possesses  in  some  measure.  It  is  one  of  the  most 
fruitful  and  satisfying  modes  of  mental  exercise. 

We  have  before   noted   the   correspondence  between   the 

truth  without  and  the  mind  within.     God  has  made  each  for 

the  other.    The  mind  takes  up  easiest  the  simple  things,  and 

God  has  made  the  truth  divisible  into  elements. 

^'"i?  ^?**  Order  comes  in  here,  also.  Heaven's  ''first  law" 
the  Mina  .       ,         ,       - 

is  the  mind's  first  law,  as  it  is  also  the  first  con- 
dition of  morals,  and  almost  everything  else  that  is  good. 
The  beauty  of  order  appeals  to  the  studious  mind,  and  re- 
acts upon  it  in  pleasing  stimulus.  Then  the  order  of  beauty 
dawns  upon  the  freshening  thought,  and  we  begin  to  per- 
ceive that  order  makes  beauty,  and  both  wait  upon  the  truth. 


104       THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

III.    To  Analyze  a  Lesson 

I.  Study  the  structure.  It  has  a  structure.  It  is  not  a 
mass  or  a  mess.  It  is  made  up  in  a  certain  way  for  a  certain 
purpose.  We  get  no  story  from  a  dictionary — and  yet  there 
is  order  there.  Think  how  useless  a  dictionary  would  be 
without  arrangement.  Think  of  all  the  words  of  a  parable 
thrown  helter-skelter  on  the  printed  page.  Some 
HasTpfan^"  ^^^^  seemed  to  disparage  elaborate  structure,  but 
none  has  ventured  to  preach  or  write  without  it. 
Robert  Hall  was  theoretically  opposed  to  divisions,  but  he 
almost  always  used  them.  It  is  said  that  only  two  or  three 
of  his  published  sermons  appeared  without  them.  The  an- 
cient orators  used  them  carefully  in  the  work  of  composi- 
tion, though  they  concealed  them  in  public  delivery,  being 
afraid  of  being  accused  of  deceiving  the  people,  if  they  were 
not  taken  to  be  spontaneous  in  their  harangues.  The  gravity 
of  even  a  slight  lapse  of  the  structure  is  seen  in  the  old  story 
of  a  preacher  who  was  so  absorbed  in  infant  baptism  that  he 
had  to  preach  about  it,  no  matter  what  the  text  was.  A 
friend  of  his  accepted  a  wager  from  a  man  that  he  could 
not  preach  a  sermon  from  any  text  without  getting  onto  the 
darling  theme,  and  the  preacher  agreed  to  try  it.  The  text 
selected  was,  "And  the  Lord  said  unto  Adam,  Where  art 
thou?"  The  preacher  started  in  bravely,  with  this  division: 
"Firstly,  Adam  was  n't  there.  Secondly,  Adam  was  some- 
where. Thirdly,  Adam  was  n't  where  he  ought  to  be. 
Fourthly,  God  wanted  him  to  get  into  the  right  place. 
Fifthly,  Infant  baptism!"  Many  a  Sunday-school  class  has 
suffered  from  this  ailment. 

Our  Scriptures  are  full  of  well-ordered  passages.  Some 
of  them,  like  the  Psalms,  are  of  the  rarest  literary  beauty. 
We  are  always  rewarded  by  our  study  of  Biblical  rhetoric. 
Bad  composition  shows  more  plainly  nowhere  than  in  its 
disorder.  Good  composition  makes  you  think  of  a  geomet- 
rical figure.     Pascal  speaks  of  "the  geometrical  spirit,"  con- 


HOW  TO  ANALYZE  A  LESSON  105 

tending  that  profound  thinking  tends  to  geometrize.  That  is, 
it  comes  from  a  mind  that  proceeds  by  defining,  stating, 
proving,  to  the  positive  affirmation  in  the  end.  Plato's  well- 
known  saying  of  the  Infinite  Mind  is  like  this:  "He  con- 
stantly geometrizes."  In  this  kind  of  composition  we  shall 
find  the  subjects  in  a  logical  and  intelligible  sequence.  The 
ideas  will  be  carefully  articulated,  so  that  one  proceeds  from 
another,  and  all  form  a  proper  progress. 

2.  Mark  the  transitions.  When  one  topic  has  been  fin- 
ished another  comes  in.  Some  are  of  major  importance,  and 
others  of  minor.  Some  intervals  are  short,  and  others  are 
long.  Tokens  of  this  are  the  comma,  the  semi-colon,  the 
colon,  the  period,  the  paragraph,  the  section,  the  chapter,  and 
sometimes  the  part.  Find  these  natural  divisions  of  the  sub- 
ject, regarding  the  paragraphs  and  sections.  This  in  analysis 
proper. 

3.  Select  the  salient  items.  This  is  for  teaching,  and 
what  items  are  salient  may  be  set  in  order.  But  age,  and 
circumstances,  and  many  other  conditions  may  determine 
this  selection.  They  should  be  reduced  to  their  lowest  terms, 
in  a  verbal  statement,  for  brevity  and  force.  We  often  find 
persons,  places,  precepts,  principles,  and  events  prominent  in 
a  lesson,  but  the  selection  of  teaching  points  should  be  made 
strictly  according  to  the  task  which  is  to  be  performed. 

4.  Frame  a  logical  unity.  Every  good  lesson  is  one 
thing.  Its  heads  are  in  harmony  with  each  other,  and  they 
run  in  a  line  of  definite  progress.  The  movement  is  toward 
the  most  important  thing  which  appears  in  the  climax. 
There  is  no  piling  up,  and  there  are  no  gaps.  Like  things 
are  grouped  together,  and  smaller  groups  run  into  larger. 
Take  Professor  Phelps's  description  of  a  Gothic  window: 
It  is  made  of  wood,  and  glass,  and  lead,  and  oak,  and  paint. 
Some  of  its  panes  are  red,  and  some  are  circular,  and  some 
are  blue,  and  some  are  larger  than  others,  and  some  are 
square,  and  some  are  green.  Some  are  diamond-shaped, 
some  are  opaque,  some  are  crescent,  some  are  concave,  some 

8 


io6       THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

are  ground,  some  are  painted,  some  are  yellow,  some  are 
cracked,  some  are  transparent,  some  are  patched,  and  some 
are  missing.  It  was  modeled  by  Michael  Angelo.  It  is  a 
memorial  window,  and  a  venerable  relic  of  Italian  art.  It  is 
in  the  Church  of  Santa  Maria,  in  Florence,  with  a  picture  of 
a  dove  in  the  center,  which  has  lost  one  wing. 

He  gives  this  as  a  horrible  example,  asking,  "Is  it  a  good 
description  of  a  Gothic  window?"  We  sadly  admit  that  it  is 
a  fair  picture  of  a  good  deal  of  Sunday-school  teaching.  A 
thorough-going  study  and  practice  of  analysis  is  the  only 
thing  that  will  cure  a  disease  of  this  kind.  Symmetry  is  as 
much  demanded  in  a  lesson  plan  as  in  the  hull  of  a  yacht,  or 
the  wings  of  a  bird.  Simplicity  is  always  to  be  aimed  at,  the 
maxim  being  to  make  the  analysis  as  simple  as  the  subject 
matter  will  allow.  There  should  be  no  whittling  away  of  any 
of  the  elements  of  strength.  The  literary  force  that  makes 
an  impression  should  always  be  kept  in  mind. 

Finally — truth.  That  which  is  must  be  made  to  appear, 
and  just  as  it  is.  Neither  sentiment  nor  fear  should  ever  be 
allowed  to  twist  reality. 

Ian  Maclaren  said  of  the  plunging  of  Posty  into  the  wa- 
ter to  rescue  little  Elsie,  that  he  saw  this  coming  long  before 
he  got  to  it  in  the  story,  and  shrank  from  hurling  Posty  into 
the  torrent,  and  strove  against  it.  But  he  could  not  help 
himself;  he  had  no  power  to  prevent  it.  Charles  Dickens 
said  that  when  he  was  issuing  the  chapters  of  "The  Old 
Curiosity  Shop"  as  a  serial  story,  he  received  letters  from 
friends  and  strangers  on  both  side  of  the  Atlantic,  begging 
him  not  to  allow  Little  Nell  to  die.  But  those  very  letters 
showed  him  that  it  was  the  natural  thing  for  the  story  to 
become  a  tragedy,  and  therefore  it  was  the  necessary  thing. 
The  forebodings  of  his  readers  were  instinctive  and  authori- 
tative. They  saw  that  Little  Nell  must  die,  and  their  fear 
cried  out  against  it. 

As  we  regard  truth  and  naturalness  in  our  teaching-plan, 
we  shall  probably  find  both  force  and  beauty. 

9 


HOW  TO  ANALYZE  A  LESSON  107 

5.  Arrange  the  subordinate  details.  These  must  also 
be  taken  care  of.  They  need  not  all  be  used ;  indeed,  we  can 
generally  use  but  a  few  of  them.  All  the  superfluous  should 
be  freely  omitted.  But  the  principle  of  order  for  which  we 
have  stood  thus  far  should  rule  all  things,  great  and  small, 
to  the  end. 

IV.    Advantages  of  Analysis 

1.  The  senior  grade  is  composed  of  scholars  who  are 
just  of  the  age  to  take  naturally  to  this  logical  division  and 
study  of  subjects.  It  suits  their  bent.  They  are  fond  of  tear- 
ing things  open,  and  passing  judgment  upon  everything  for 
themselves.  No  other  grade  can  compare  with  this  in  its 
analytical  and  critical  tendencies. 

2.  The  study  of  wholes  is  increasingly  advocated  for  all 
grades,  and  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  day  of  fragments  and 
mutilations  in  Bible  study  is  nearly  done.  But  the  older 
pupils  demand  the  unities,  and  for  this  study  of  things  as 
wholes  an  outline  is  indispensable.  The  best  thing  for  a 
stranger  in  a  strange  city  to  do  is  to  get  upon  some  elevation 
and  note  the  landmarks.  Wherever  he  may  subsequently  be 
in  that  city,  he  will  profit  by  his  first  panoramic  view.  If 
the  visitor  to  Paris  ascends  the  Arch  of  Triumph,  he  can  dis- 
tinguish the  Eiffel  Tower,  the  Trocadero,  the  Hotel  des  In- 
valides,  the  Pantheon,  the  Louvre,  the  Madeleine,  and  Alont- 
martre.  Thereafter  the  city  is  pictured  as  a  whole  in  his 
mind.  Imagine  how  the  battlefield  of  Waterloo  looks  from 
the  top  of  the  mound  of  the  Belgian  Lion.  There  is  a  sim- 
ilar advantage  in  climbing  upon  the  height  of  a  subject,  and 
gathering  its  few  outstanding  features  into  a  single  view. 
For  instance,  the  Book  of  the  Acts  has  been  summed  up  into 
A,  the  Jewish  Church ;  B,  the  Transitional  Church,  and  C, 
the  Gentile  Church.  Dr.  Whedon  analyzes  Paul's  immortal 
argument  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans  as  A,  the  Ruin;  B, 
the  Remedy,  and  C,  the  Defense.  Burton  &  Mathews  treat 
the  life  of  Christ  in  nine  parts,  which  gives  us  a  general  im- 


io8       THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

pression  that  no  amount  of  study  of  the  details   could  ever 
furnish. 

3.  Dignity  and  scope.  Most  lessons  appear  larger,  and 
more  important,  when  they  are  ordered  under  their  leading 
concepts.  This  not  only  shows  what  these  are,  but  it  often 
reveals  the  importance  that  arises  out  of  their  relation  to 
cognate  themes.  Take  a  simple  outline  of  the  Lord's  Prayer, 
for  instance : 

1.  "Our    Father    who    art    in    heaven."      This    teaches 

Fatherhood,  which  is  the  foundation  of  the  gospel. 

2.  "Hallowed  by  Thy  name."     Here  is   reverence,  the 

foundation  of  religion. 

3.  "Thy  kingdom  come,"     The  Kingdom,  which  is  the 

foundation  of  civilization  in  its  broadest  sense. 

4.  "Thy  will  be  done."     Consecration,  the   foundation 

of  holiness. 

5.  "Give    us    this    day    our    daily   bread."     Providence, 

the  foundation  of  temporal  blessings. 

6.  "Forgive    us    our    debts."      Pardon,    the    foundation 

of  spiritual  blessings. 

7.  "Bring  us  not  into  temptation,  but  deliver  us  from 

the  evil  one."     Guidance,  the  foundation  of  per- 
sonal prosperity. 

4.  Illumination  and  emphasis.  The  separation  of  the 
groups  of  like  things,  and  the  placing  of  them  over  against 
each  other,  is  a  first  aid  to  the  intelligence.  Many  a  subject 
is  seen  clearly  for  the  first  time  in  an  outline.  It  always 
helps  to  clearness.  Supppose  we  say  of  the  nineteenth  Psalm, 
for  instance,  that  its  topic  is  The  Song  of  the  Two  Revela- 
tions, and  that  it  contains  three  parts:  (a)  God  Revealed  in 
Nature,  (b)  God  Revealed  in  the  Scriptures,  and  (c)  A  Three- 
fold Prayer ;  does  it  not  place  the  writer's  aim  in  a  clear 
light?  The  emphasis  upon  proper  subjects  always  does  this 
when  it  enables  them  to  be  isolated  for  particular  notice  and 
study. 

5.  Skill  and  confidence.    We  are  not  attempting  to  ex- 


HOW  TO  ANALYZE  A  LESSON  109 

haust  the  benefits  of  analysis,  but  must  mention  these,  which 
apply  especially  to  the  teacher.  If  he  sees  the  end  from  the 
beginning,  if  he  knows  just  what  the  next  step  is  always  to 
be,  and  if  he  knows  just  what  he  is  going  to  do  in  any  emer- 
gency, he  is  master  of  the  situation.  He  knows  it,  and  has 
confidence  in  himself ;  and  his  pupils  discover  it,  and  are  glad. 

Lesson  Outline: 

L  Knowing  the  Lesson. 

H.  A  Bit  of  Psychology. 

HL  To  Analyze  a  Lesson. 

IV.  Advantages  of  Analysis. 

Topics  for  Special  Study: 

1.  The  formation  of  concepts. 

2.  The  cultivation  of  the  logical  faculty. 

Topics  for  Class  Discussion: 

1.  Ways  in  which  the  teacher  must  know  the  lesson. 

2.  What  is  the  first  quality  of  style? 

3.  What  is  thought? 

4.  What  are  general  concepts? 

5.  The  importance  of  analysis. 

6.  Name  five  steps  in  the  analysis  of  a  lesson. 

7.  Can  you  teach  without  a  plan? 

8.  What  are  the  advantages  of  outlining? 


CHAPTER  VIII 

THE  TEACHER'S  USE  OF  QUESTIONS 


CHAPTER  VIII 
THE  TEACHER'S  USE  OF  QUESTIONS 

I.    The  Interrogation  Point 

Alexander  Pope  was  a  little,  misshapen  man,  and  he  was 
inordinately  given  to  quizzing.  A  young  officer,  who  had 
endured  much  from  him,  was  one  day  asked  by  him  what  an 
interrogation  point  is.  He  saw  his  chance,  and  replied,  "A 
little  crooked  thing  that  asks  questions."  But  this  little  ask- 
ing-point, like  many  another  humble  entity,  is  far  greater 
than  it  looks.  Few  things  stand  for  more  in  education  than 
just  this.  Bacon's  "A  shrewd  question  is  the  half  of  knowl- 
edge," is  an  old  maxim,  the  only  question  about  which  is 
whether  it  is  not  two-thirds  or  even  more.  There  is  no 
teaching,  in  the  ordinary  course  of  things,  without  questions, 
and  there  is  nothing  that  more  truly  measures  the  value  of 
teaching  than  the  questions  that  the  teacher  asks.  It  is  safe 
to  say  that  no  teacher  regrets  the  expenditure  of  what  time 
he  has  put  upon  the  study  of  questions  and  questioning.  He 
would  almost  certainly  testify  that  nothing  has  brought  him 
more  from  the  investment  than  this.  The  teacher  of  seniors 
is  especially  interested  in  this,  for  adolescents  are  natural 
questioners  themselves,  and  they  can  not  be  taught  without 
questioning.  The  more  nearly  a  fine  art  that  the  teacher 
makes  of  this,  the  surer  he  is  to  win  and  to  hold  his  class. 

The  question  is  the  historic  weapon  which  all  the  mas- 
ters of  pedagogy  have  used  victoriously.  It  is  like  Arthur's 
Excalibur,  or  the  mighty  brand  of  the  Lion- 
Weapon  Heart;  even  more  like  Saladin's  scimitar  and 
the  light  and  flexible  rapier  that  more  than 
make  up  in  keenness  and  facility  what  they  lack  in  weight. 
Pestalozzi,   Herbart,    Spencer,   Comenius,   Bain,   and  Agassiz 

8  113  ' 


114       THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

are  names  that  suggest  themselves  at  once  among  those  of 
the  master-questioners  and  expounders  of  the  theory  of  teach- 
ing that  involves  these.  At  the  head  of  all  secular  teachers, 
perhaps,  stands  the  Sage  of  Athens,  who  was  the  most  skillful 
and  penetrating  questioner  that  ever  taught.  It  might  almost 
be  said  that  Socrates  did  nothing  but  question.  He  relied 
wholly  upon  the  magic  of  the  question  to  develop,  and  to  draw 
out  what  he  supposed  was  nascent  in  the  pupil's  mind.  He 
also  used  a  good  deal  of  irony,  because  he  had  to  deal  with 
the  Athenians,  who  were  filled  with  conceit  for  their  imag- 
ined knowledge.  But  this  is  not  an  essential  part  of  his 
marvelous  art.  We  can,  perhaps,  learn  nothing  better  about 
asking  questions  than  to  study  a  sample  of  the  Socratic 
method  given  by  Professor  John  Adams: 

Suppose  Socrates  could  rise  out  of  his  twenty-three-hun- 
dred-year-old grave  (and  could  speak  English)  ;  he  might 
The  Socratic  come  along  to  the  playground,  and  finding  John 
Method  Thompson,  the  pupil-teacher,  standing  there  do- 

Illustrated  jj^g.  nothing  in  particular,  might  enter  into  con- 
versation with  him.     By  and  by  he  might  ask  quite  casually: 

"By  the  way,  Thompson,  what  is  an  insect?  I  often  hear 
people  talking  about  insects,  and  I'd  like  to  be  quite  sure 
what  they  mean." 

Then  Thompson  would  feel  very  big  at  being  asked  in  that 
way  by  such  an  old  man,  and  would  answer  in  an  offhand 
style:  "0,  an  insect?  Why,  I  thought  everybody  knew  that. 
An  insect's — let  me  see — yes,  an  insect's  a  little  animal  with 
wings." 

Then  Socrates  might  look  beyond  the  school  railings  at  a 
hen  pecking  among  the  stones  in  the  road,  and  say:  "Well, 
well,  now.  So  that 's  an  insect.  D'  ye  know,  I  would  n't  have 
thought  that,  now." 

And  Thompson  would  be  angry,  and  think  that  Socrates 
was  not  just  such  a  nice  old  man  as  he  had  supposed,  and 
would  go  on  to  explain  that  a  hen  was  far  too  big  for  an 
insect. 

8 


THE  TEACHER'S  USE  OF  QUESTIONS         nS 

Socrates,  on  the  other  hand,  would  be  quite  nice  about  it, 
and  say:     "So  an  insect  is  a  very  small  animal  with  wings?" 

Thompson   (relieved)  :  "Yes." 

Socrates:     "Is  a  humming  bird  small  enough?" 

Thompson  (shortly)  :  "No:  an  insect  isn't  a  bird  at  all." 

Socrates:  "Then  an  insect  is  a  very  small  animal  with 
wings  that  isn't  a  bird?" 

Thompson   (again  relieved)  :  "Yes," 

Socrates:  "In  a  shop,  yesterday,  I  saw  a  little  package 
marked  'Keating's  Powder,'  which  was  said  to  kill  all  insects. 
There  were  some  pictures  of  very  small  animals  that  were  n't 
birds,  but  they  had  n't  wings,  so  I  suppose  it  was  a  mistake 
putting  them  there,  for  they  could  n't  be  insects  without  wings, 
could  they?" 

(Thompson  is  now  sure  that  Socrates  is  a  very  disagree- 
able old  man,  and  wonders  that  he  has  not  noticed  before 
what  an  ugly  pug  nose  the  old  man  has.) 

Thompson  (bitterly)  :  "Yes,  they  're  insects  right  enough. 
Everybody  knows  them.  You  do  n't  mean  to  say  you  do  n't 
know  them?" 

(But  Socrates  never  answers  side  questions  like  this  last. 
He  always  keeps  to  the  main  point.) 

Socrates:  "Dear  me!  Dear  me!  What  are  we  to  say 
now?  An  insect  is  a  very  small  animal  with  wings,  that 
is  n't  a  bird,  and  sometimes  has  n't  wings.  Really,  I  do  n't 
think  I  quite  know  yet  what  an  insect  is." 

Thompson  (with  a  happy  inspiration,  and  the  memory  of 
a  reading  lesson)  :  "O,  an  insect  is  an  animal  that  begins  as 
a  grub,  goes  on  to  be  a  chrysalis,  and  ends  by  being  a  perfect 
butterfly." 

Socrates:  "How  interesting!  Now,  how  long  would  you 
say  Keating's  insects — the  ones  without  wings,  you  know — 
would  take  to  become  perfect  butterflies  ?" 

Thompson:  "O,  bother!  You  do  nothing  but  find  fault. 
Tell  me  what  an  insect  is — you." 

Socrates:     "But  you   forget,  my  dear   Thompson,   that 


ii6       THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

do  n't  know.  I  'm  only  asking  for  information.  Let 's  examine 
three  or  four  animals  that  we  know  to  be  insects,  and  see 
wherein  they  resemble  each  other.  Which  animals  shall  we 
take?" 

Thompson:  **0,  let's  take  the  butterfly,  the  bee,  the  spider, 
and — and,  say,  the  beetle?" 

Socrates:  "Good;  but,  by  the  way,  my  friend,  the  pro- 
fessor happened  to  say  the  other  day  that  the  spider  is  n't  an 
insect,  though  like  you  I  thought  it  was,  and  so  do  most 
people.  Let 's  examine  it  along  with  those  we  are  sure  about, 
and  see  how  it  differs  from  them:  that  will  help  us  find  out 
what  an  insect  really  is." 

And  so  the  conversation  goes  on.  They  find  that  the 
spider  has  eight  legs,  while  all  the  genuine  insects  have  only 
six;  that  all  the  insects  are  made  up  of  a  series  of  rings; 
that  these  rings  are  grouped  into  three  sets;  that  all  have 
either  wings  or  traces  of  wings,  and  so  forth. 

No  one  can  study  Socrates,  and  wonder  why  he  was 
great.  His  piercing  questions  seemed  to  stimulate  mens 
minds  more  than  did  all  the  eloquence  of  Demosthenes  and 
Aeschines,  or  the  artistic  creations  of  Phidias  and  Apelles. 
How  large  a  share  of  the  achievements  of  Plato  and  Xeno- 
phon  is  to  be  credited  to  this  wonderful  teacher  may  be  a 
matter  of  dispute,  but  all  agree  that  it  is  large.  His  insight, 
his  keenness,  his  simplicity,  and  his  astonishing  ingenuity 
and  mind-mastery  remain  the  standing  wonder  of  the  edu- 
cational world.  "As  long  as  the  name  of  Socrates  survives, 
the  world  can  hardly  forget  the  challenging  function,  the 
insinuating  and  awakening  force,  and  the  resistless  influence 
which  are  involved  in  shrewdly  put  questions." 

II.    The  Use  of  Questions 

I.  They  make  history.  In  the  history  of  nations  there  is 
many  an  example  of  the  power  of  a  question,  in  a  crisis,  to 
turn  the  scale.  The  sharp  question  forces  the  issue ;  it  thrusts 
up  a  dilemma,  and  he  who  dodges  nimbly  to  escape  one  horn 

3 


THE  TEACHER'S  USE  OF  QUESTIONS  n; 

often  finds  himself  impaled  on  the  other  before  he  knows  it. 
Great  statesmen,  like  great  lawyers,  are  always  masters  of 
the  question-mark.  The  speeches  of  Abraham  Lincoln  dur- 
ing the  fateful  period  immediately  preceding  the  Civil  War 
The  Lincoln-  abound  in  searching,  incisive  questions.  In  his 
Douglas  memorable  debate  with  Douglas  the  latter  made 

Debate  ^^  attack   upon  Lincoln   with   a   series   of   seven 

questions  upon  which  he  relied  to  pierce  him  to  his  political 
death.  But  he  was  dealing  with  a  master.  Lincoln  evaded 
nothing,  but  answered  all  the  seven  with  his  characteristic 
frankness  and  vigor.  And  he  still  lived.  But  then  it  was  his 
turn.  His  acute  mind  discerned  the  antagonistic  elements 
in  Douglas's  political  creed,  and  he  selected  the  question  as 
the  means  of  showing  these  up,  and  overwhelming  his  oppo- 
nent. These  four  questions  were  simple  in  their  phrasing, 
yet  most  subtle,  and  they  went  to  the  heart  of  the  whole 
anti-slavery  controversy.  He  showed  them  to  some  of  his 
friends,  who  took  alarm  at  once,  and  begged  him  not  to  pre- 
sent them.  One  question  in  particular  seemed  so  dangerous 
to  them  that  they  came  to  him  in  his  room  at  midnight,  and 
begged  him  to  withhold  it.  *Tf  you  put  it,"  said  one,  "yo^ 
can  never  be  senator."  "Gentlemen,"  he  answered,  as  he 
drew  his  lips  together  between  the  words,  "I  am  killing 
larger  game;  if  Douglas  answers,  he  can  never  be  President, 
and  the  battle  of  i860  is  worth  a  hundred  of  this."  The  next 
day  he  fearlessly  put  his  questions  to  Douglas.  It  is  easily 
remembered  that  his  answers,  shrewd  as  they  were,  made 
possible  the  re-election  of  Douglas  to  the  Senate  of  the  United 
States;  but  it  also  aroused  the  anger  of  the  South  against 
him,  and  in  all  probability  kept  him  from  the  Presidency  later. 
Moreover,  it  raised  an  excitement  that  spread  over  the  Na- 
tion. Of  this  Lincoln  was  the  natural  center,  and  the  day 
came  at  last  when  he  went  to  Washington  on  his  immortal 
mission. 

Does  it  not  look  as  if  our  country's  career  turned  upon 
his  question? 

8 


ii8       THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

2.  They  are  powerful  in  exhortation.  All  the  writers 
on  preaching  make  much  of  the  direct,  personal  question. 
The  great  preachers  are  adepts  in  the  art  of  questioning. 
They  get  it  from  the  Scriptures  themselves.  Note  the  tre- 
mendous effect  of  the  form  of  God's  address  to  the  guilty- 
pair  in  Eden: 

"Where  art  thouf" 

"Who  told  thee  that  thou  wast  naked?" 

"Hast  thou  eaten  of  the  tree  whereof  I  commanded  thee 
that  thou  shoitldcst  not  eatf" 

"What  is  this  that  thou  hast  done?" 

Question-marks  abound  in  the  Scriptures,  and  he  who 
studies  them  can  not  fail  to  be  influenced  by  this  notable  pe- 
culiarity of  their  address.  John  Wesley  was  a 
QuestlonTr^  remarkable  questioner.  Says  Dr.  J.  B.  Young: 
"No  man  of  his  day  surpassed  him  in  the  ser- 
monic  arts  whereby  attention  is  gained,  the  conscience  is 
reached,  the  judgment  is  arrested,  and  the  soul  is  brought 
to  consider  its  way,  and  repent.  It  is  significant,  therefore, 
that  this  master  of  English  speech  was  fond  of  this  method 
of  dividing  up  a  discourse."  "One  whose  calling  involves 
public  speaking  of  any  sort,  and  who  has  thus  far  failed  to 
note  the  extraordinary  impressiveness  and  searching  func- 
tion of  well-ordered  interrogatives,  can  find  no  more  striking 
specimens  of  it  than  John  Wesley's  sermons  afford." 

3.  The  method  of  Jesus.  Jesus  Christ  was  the  most 
wonderful  questioner  that  ever  taught.  In  the  simplicity,  the 
depth,  the  searching  quality,  and  the  far-reaching  effects  of 
His  questions,  He  stands  pre-eminent  through  the  ages.     Dr. 

Young  notes  that  "the  only  incident  of  His  boy- 
Questions  °     "^ood  portrays  Him  in  the  Temple  at  Jerusalem 

among  the  teachers  of  the  Law,  'both  hearing 
them  and  asking  them  questions.' "  This  one  fact  is  doubt- 
less typical  of  His  life.  "With  questions  He  encouraged  the 
timid,  instructed  the  docile,  rebuked  the  stubborn  and  un- 
discerning,   warned  the   imperiled,   silenced   the   carping   and 


THE  TEACHER'S  USE  OF  QUESTIONS         119 

the  captious,  refuted  the  contentious,  and  denounced  the 
hypocritical,"  There  is  no  study  that  would  probably  help 
the  teacher  more  than  that  of  the  questions  of  the  Great 
Teacher.  They  will  be  found  more  numerous,  doubtless, 
than  one  would  think.  Take  just  a  few,  to  show  their  force 
and  reach: 

"Is  not  the  life  more  than  the  food,  and  the  body  than 
the  raiment?" 

"Do  men  gather  grapes  of  thorns,  or  Hgs  of  thistles?" 

"What  shall  a  man  he  profited  if  he  shall  gain  the  whole 
world-  and  forfeit  his  life?" 

"What  shall  a  man  give  in  exchange  for  his  life?" 

"Can  the  blind  guide  the  blind?" 

"Why  call  ye  Me  Lord,  Lord,  and  do  not  the  things  which 
I  say?" 

"Wouldest  thou  be  made  whole?" 

"Loves t  thou  Me?" 

There  are  no  more  helpful  suggestions  anywhere,  either 
as  to  the  value  of  the  question-method  or  as  to  models  for 
efficient  questioning,  than  in  the  record  of  the  sayings  of  the 
Master. 

III.   The  Question  Method  in  Sunday-school  Teach- 
ing 

An  epoch  was  made  by  the  introduction  of  the  question- 
method.  Dr.  Trumbull  tells  us  that  this  was  first  introduced 
by  James  Gall,  of  Scotland,  at  the  beginning  of  the  last  cen- 
tury. At  that  time  the  practice  of  teaching  was  very  poor, 
Gall's  Work  both  there  and  here.  There  was  a  vast  deal  of 
for  the  Sun-  crude  memorizing  and  rote  work,  without  much 
day-School  ^^^^^  ^^  ^^^^^  pupils  the  meaning  of  what  they 
were  learning.  This  was  the  bane  of  the  Catechism  as  it  was 
taught.  Gall  introduced  the  present  plan  of  a  "limited  les- 
son." This  consisted  of  a  few  verses  of  Scripture,  which 
were  to  be  made  intelligible  by  simple  questioning.  "From 
this  beginning  our   entire  modern   system  of   Sunday-school 


120       THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

teaching,  including  all  our  question-books  and  lesson-helps, 
took  its  start."  Thomas  K.  Beecher  was  a  famous  teacher 
in  his  day,  and  his  skill  was  that  of  a  questioner,  according 
to  Gall's  method.  Dr.  Trumbull  used  his  "word-questions" 
to  illustrate  the  enthusiasm  engendered  by  this  simplest  form 
of  the  question  art :  ''Will,  say  the  first  sentence  of  the  les- 
son!"  "Behold,  a  sower  went  forth  to  sow."  "A  what?" 
(pointing  to  a  pupil,  as  a  quicker  way,  and  withal  more  mag- 
netic, than  stopping  to  call  a  name.)  "A  sower."  "What 
did  he  do?"  "He  went  forth."  *'What  for?"  "To  sow." 
And  of  this  method,  simple  and  even  frivolous  as  some 
teachers  might  consider  it,  Mr.  Beecher  says :  "As  the  result 
of  years  of  experience,  I  find  that  even  in  our  teachers'  meet- 
ings this  class  of  questions  arrest  attention,  and  amuse,  and 
fascinate  even  grown-up  people;  for  when  asked  rapidly,  and 
with  spirit,  they  require  the  parties  engaged  in  the  exercises 
to  keep  their  wits  about  them,  and  to  be  perfect  masters  of  the 
words  of  the  lesson." 

This  honored  teacher  is  but  one  of  many  who  have  helped 
to  develop  the  question  method,  and  to  make  it  prominent  in 
the  work  of  the  modern  Sunday-school. 

4.  The  question  in  the  new  education.  Many  of  the 
old-time  teachers  seemed  to  deal  with  facts  and  formulas  as 
a  sort  of  filling  for  minds  which  were  regarded  as  somewhat 
like  jugs,  to  be  poured  full  without  any  effort  on  their  own 
part.  Dickens  describes  such  teachers  in  Gradgrind  and 
M'Choakumchild,  who  were  "a  kind  of  cannon,  loaded  to  the 
muzzle  with  facts,  and  prepared  to  blow  the  boys  and  girls 
clean  out  of  the  regions  of  childhood  at  one  discharge."  They 
The  New  Ed-  know  little  of  any  other  faculty  but  memory,  and 
ucation  Ex-  their  theory  is  that  this  is  best  stimulated  by 
cites  Inquiry  ^ough  Sticks.  But  all  this  is  outlawed.  The  new 
education  regards  first  the  activity  of  the  mind.  Mill  gives 
as  the  first  principle  in  education,  "The  discipline  which  does 
good  to  the  mind  is  that  in  which  the  mind  is  active,  not 
passive;  the  secret  of  developing  the  faculties  is  to  give  them 


THE  TEACHER'S  USE  OF  QUESTIONS         121 

much  to  do,  and  much  inducement  to  do  it."  Tyndall  says, 
"The  exercise  of  the  mind,  Hke  that  of  the  body,  depends  for 
its  value  upon  the  spirit  in  which  it  is  accompHshed." 
Spencer  says  that  the  pupil  "should  be  told  as  little  as  pos- 
sible, and  induced  to  discover  as  much  as  possible."  Agas- 
siz  said  that  the  worst  service  a  teacher  could  render  a  pupil 
was  to  give  him  a  ready-made  answer.  The  new  education 
aims  to  draw  out,  to  train,  to  discipline;  and  it  does  this  by 
awakening  curiosity,  exciting  inquiry,  and  developing  dis- 
crimination. Its  axiom  is  that  it  is  what  the  student  does  for 
himself  and  by  himself,  under  wise  guidance,  that  educates 
him. 

For  this  supreme  task  of  awakening  and  guiding  the 
mental  powers  there  is  nothing  as  valuable  as  the  expert 
question.  Its  place  in  the  new  education  is  large  and  neces- 
sary. 

IV.    Our  Use  of  Questions 

I.  Faulty  questions.  We  have  not  attempted  to  treat 
the  topic  of  this  lesson  narrowly  or  mechanically.  It  is  hoped 
that  our  somewhat  broad  treatment  has  sufficed  to  afford 
some  instruction  as  to  the  use  of  questions  by  the  senior 
teacher.  It  may  be  unnecessary  to  specify  faults,  but  we  will 
name  a  few,  for  samples. 

First,  there  is  the  aimless  question,  that  leads  nowhere, 

and  affords  no  clue  to  the  pupil  as  to  what  the  teacher  wishes 

to  evoke.    Then  there  is  the  leading  question,  which  carries 

the  answer  with  it.     There  is  the  irrelevant  ques- 

Questions  .  ,  .   ,     .  r   •    •  •  i     .1       ,i  •         •  •     j 

to  Avoid  ^^^^'  which  IS  out  of  jomt  with  the  thing  in  mind. 

The  misleading  question  is  still  worse,  for  it 
leads  the  learner  away  from  the  right  road.  There  are  wordy 
questions  that  confuse,  and  stilted  questions  that  confound. 
There  are  technical  questions  that  baffle,  and  silly  questions 
that  insult.  There  are  also  questions  that  are  annoying,  pro- 
voking, impudent,  sarcastic,  and  malicious. 


122       THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

2.  Practical  directions.  From  what  has  preceded  we 
may  deduce  these  practical  directions  in  the  use  of  questions : 

Questions  may  be  asked  merely  for  attention,  before  the 
lesson  begins.  Such  may  be  of  the  subject  of  the  lesson,  or 
they  may  not.  The  "point  of  contact"  is  to  be  first  found, 
and  it  may  lie  at  some  distance  off  the  present  path.  Some 
Important  questions  may  be  asked  for  encouragement,  the 
Uses  in  our  teacher  knowing  well  that  the  pupil  can  easily 
Teaching  answer  them.  Some  review  questions  may  come 
in  to  pave  the  way.  But  the  first  great  use  of  the  question 
will  be  to  develop  the  lesson;  to  gather  up  and  present  the 
material  for  working  over.  The  next  large  use  of  it  will  be 
to  correlate  this  material  with  other  already  known,  that  will 
aid  in  the  handling  of  it.  There  will  also  be  questions  for  the 
expansion  of  the  subject,  for  the  correction  of  errors,  for  the 
deduction  of  other  truths,  and  of  precepts.  A  whole  depart- 
ment of  question  work  is  that  of  testing  the  pupil's  knowledge, 
and  another  is  that  of  stimulating  the  mind  to  greater  ac- 
tivity. 

One  important  use  of  the  question  remains  to  be  noticed, 
and  this  is  of  special  significance  to  the  religious  teacher. 
It  is  that  of  inspiration.  Let  us  tell  this  in  a  story.  One  of 
the  most  devoted  and  useful  men  of  our  day  is  Dr.  Grenfell, 
the  apostle  of  the  North.  Mr.  Norman  Duncan  thus  de- 
scribes his  work :  *Tn  the  little  hospital  ship,  'Strathcona,' 
the  doctor  darts  here  and  there  and  everywhere,  all  summer 
long,  responding  to  calls,  searching  out  the  sick,  gathering 
the  patients  for  the  various  hospitals.  The  ship  is  known 
to  every  harbor  on  the  coast ;  and  she  is  often  overcrowded 
with  the  sick.  Winter  travel  is  a  matter  of  much  danger  and 
hardship.  The  mission  doctor  finds  greater  delight,  if  any- 
thing, in  the  wild,  swift  race  over  rotten  or  heaving  ice,  or 
in  a  night  in  the  driving  snow,  than  in  running  the  Strath- 
cona  through  a  northeast  gale.  The  journey  northward  is 
made  in  midwinter  alone  with  the  dogs.  Many  a  night  the 
doctor  must  get  into  his  sleeping-bag,  and  make  himself  as 


THE  TEACHER'S  USE  OF  QUESTIONS  123 

comfortable  as  possible  in  the  snow,  snuggling  close  to  the 
dogs  for  the  sake  of  the  warmth  of  their  bodies.  Six  hundred 
miles  north  in  the  dead  of  winter,  six  hundred  miles  back 
again :  it  takes  a  man  of  unchangeable  devotion  to  under- 
take it!"  Where  is  the  source  of  this  extraordinary  heroism? 
In  a  question.  Dr.  Grenfell  once  heard  a  sermon  by  Mr. 
Moody,  and  shortly  before  the  latter's  death  he  took  occasion 
to  thank  him  for  it.  The  intensely  practical  Moody  answered 
pointedly  with  this:  "And  what  have  you  been  doing  since?" 
Grenfell  could  neither  answer  this  question  nor  get  away 
from  it,  and  soon  he  set  about  to  try  to  do  things.  "He  has 
become  the  promoter  of  industry,  the  physician,  missionary, 
magistrate,  and  helpful  friend  of  every  fisherman  on  the 
Labrador  coast." 

Lesson  Outline: 

I.  The  Interrogation  Point. 

II.  The  Use  of  Questions. 

III.  The  Question  Method  in  Sunday-school  Teaching. 

IV.  The  Senior  Teacher's  Use  of  Questions. 

Topics  for  Special  Study: 

1.  The  Socratic  method. 

2.  Jesus'  use  of  questions. 

Topics  for  Class  Discussion: 

1.  The  dynamic  of  the  question. 

2.  Socrates'  use  of  questions. 

3.  What  historic  questions  do  you  know  about? 

4.  How  are  you  affected  by  the   questions   of  public 

speakers  ? 

5.  Name  as  many  of  the  questions  of  Jesus  as  you  can 

recall. 

6.  What  is  the  place  of  the  question  in  the  new  edu- 

cation? 

7.  Name  certain  kinds  of  faulty  questions. 

8.  What  are  the  particular  uses  of  questions? 


CHAPTER  IX 

ILLUSTRATIONS— THEIR  VALUE 
AND  USE 


CHAPTER  IX 
ILLUSTRATIONS— THEIR  VALUE  AND  USE 

I.  The  Windows  of  Speech 

"There  can  be  no  doubt  that,  for  the  purpose  of  teaching, 
one  illustration  is  worth  a  thousand  abstractions.  They  are 
the  windows  of  speech ;  through  them  truth  shines ;  and  ordi- 
lUustrations  nary  minds  fail  to  perceive  truth  clearly  unless 
Light  up  it   is   presented   to   them   through   this   medium." 

Teaching  g^  wrote  Edwin  Paxton  Hood,  many  years  ago, 
and  in  similar  strain  a  general  chorus  of  wise  men  praise 
the  things  that  light  up  teaching.  It  is  a  common-place  to 
say  that  every  good  teacher  illustrates,  and  must  illustrate. 
We  need  not  stop  in  one  place  to  enforce  a  truth :  we  may 
reflect  light  upon  it  from  a  thousand  other  sources.  A  tomb 
has  one  door  to  it,  but  no  windows :  the  houses  we  live  in 
must  have  more  windows  than  doors.  It  is  a  cheering 
thought  that  the  thing  that  we  would  gladly  get  into  the 
minds  of  our  class  lies  in  no  isolated  beam,  but  is  illumined 
from  all  sides,  if  we  open  up  the  view. 

II.  Popularity  of  Illustrations 

The  amazing  popularity  of  illustrations  is  a  phenomenon 
of  the  first  magnitude.  The  story  reigns  from  the  cradle  to 
the  grave.  Savages  and  sages  alike  give  attention  to  them; 
Many  in  philosophers    and    fools    are    not    beyond    their 

Kind  and  reach.  There  are  many  kinds  of  illustrations : 
Number  there  are  object-lessons,  pictures,  diagrams,  maps, 

statuary,  plays,  novels,  poems,  tales,  fables,  and  the  myriad 
processes  of  the  world  of  nature  and  life.  Consider  the  multi- 
tude of  the  works  of  fiction  and  their  enormous  circulation. 

127  ^ 


128      THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

Consider  the  stories  and  sketches  that  fill  our  popular  maga- 
zines, and  note  the  copious  pictures  that  adorn  everything  now- 
adays, from  the  daily  newspaper  and  the  standing  billboard  to 
the  highest  treatises  on  the  sciences.  Consider  the  money 
value  of  a  story  as  such.  There  are  few  things,  if  any,  that  are 
equal  to  stories  in  the  market.  If  you  have  one,  you  can 
cash  it  at  the  nearest  newspaper  office.  Note  the  extraordi- 
nary sums  paid  for,  and  made  by,  the  novels  that  "get  a 
run;"  also,  tho-3  paid  to  returned  explorers  for  "lecturing," 
or  to  any  popular  hero  for  telling  the  tale  of  his  prowess. 
One  apt  illustration  may  sell  a  patent  or  lift  a  mortgage  or 
win  a  sweetheart  or  a  soul.  They  are  found  on  the  street, 
in  the  corner  grocery,  the  factory,  the  office,  the  home,  and 
the  club.  In  the  school  and  the  church,  in  lyceums,  and  in- 
stitutes, and  political  campaigns  they  have  the  front  seats. 
And  there  is  no  sign,  as  the  race  grows  old,  that  they  are 
losing  any  of  their  charm. 

III.     Masters  of  Illustration 

The  great  teachers  of  the  race  have  all  been  masters  of 
this  rich  art.  Robert  Hall  once  criticised  the  sermon  of  a 
brother  minister  thus:  "You  have  no  'likes'  in  your  ser- 
TheirUse  mon.'  Christ  taught  that  the  kingdom  of  heaven 
by  Great  was  'like'  to  leaven,  'like'  to  a  grain  of  mustard 

Teachers  ^^^^^  ^^^  You  tell  US  what  things  are,  but  never 
what  they  are  'like.' "  He  touched  here  one  of  the  most  con- 
spicuous traits  of  our  Lord  as  a  Teacher.  Jesus  opened 
wide  the  windows.  He  was  always  telling  stories:  "without 
a  parable  spake  He  not  unto  them."  He  garnished  His  the- 
ological discourse  with  a  thousand  lights  from  the  sheep,  the 
birds,  the  flowers,  the  grain,  the  storm,  the  sky,  the  wedding 
feast,  the  lost  coin,  the  man  outraged  by  robbers,  and  the 
wandering  son.  The  prophets  and  the  psalmist  were  rich  in 
imagery.  So  were  the  Hebrew  poets,  and  all  the  poets  are. 
The  great  preachers  also  have  drawn  powerfully  upon  this. 
John  Wesley's  style  was  calm,  and  he  was  always  orderly, 


ILLUSTRATIONS— THEIR  VALUE  AND  USE    129 

usually  logical  to  severity.  Yet  he  was  a  master  illustrator. 
A  philosopher  of  Wesley's  time  declared  that  he  came  nearer 
to  the  ideal  of  this  than  any  one  whose  writings  he  had  read. 
He  wrote  to  Hannah  More:  "When  you  'advise,  instruct 
to  be  communicated,  in  a  way  that  shall  interest  the  feelings 
by  lively  images;'  and  when  you  observe  that  'there  seems 
to  be  no  good  reason  why  religion  must  be  dry  and  uninter- 
esting, while  every  other  thing  is  to  be  made  amusing;'  and 
ask,  'Why  should  not  the  most  entertaining  powers  of  the 
human  mind  be  supremely  consecrated  to  that  subject  which 
is  most  worthy  of  their  full  exercise?'  I  read  that  of  which 
I  must  say,  John  Wesley  gives  me  the  most  entire  exemplifi- 
cation I  have  ever  met  with,  except  in  the  Bible."  All  the 
evangelists,  from  Whitefield  down,  have  made  illustration  the 
bulk  of  their  exhortations.  This  extraordinary  exhorter  kept 
the  volume  of  nature  ever  open  before  him,  and  he  delighted 
to  unfold  its  magnificent  contents.  From  the  rainbow,  and 
the  ocean,  and  the  thunder-storm,  to  the  glow-worm,  and 
the  flower,  and  the  fish,  nothing  was  too  grand  or  too  insig- 
nificant to  serve  the  needs  of  his  impassioned  oratory.  White- 
field  is  said  to  have  "ransacked  creation  for  figures,  heaven 
for  motives,  hell  for  warnings,  and  eternity  for  arguments.' 
These  things  furnish  appeals  for  all  minds,  and  no  popular 
speaker  can  afford  to  dispense  with  them. 

Dr.  Cuyler  was  an  interesting  preacher,  and  he  accounted 
for  his  practice  by  telling  what  Judge  McLean,  of  the  Su- 
preme Court  of  the  United  States,  once  said  to  him :  "I  was 
glad  to  hear  you  give  that  solemn  personal  incident  in  your 
discourse  last  night.  Ministers  nowadays  are  getting  above 
telling  a  story  in  their  sermons,  but  I  like  it."  The  widely- 
circulated  sermons  of  Dr.  Talmage  were  composed  almost 
wholly  of  incidents.  Dr.  Trumbull's  writings  abound  in 
them,  and  are  powerfully  enforced  by  them.  Abraham  Lin- 
coln was  so  convinced  of  the  power  of  stories  that  he  made 
larger  use  of  them  than  was  agreeable  to  everybody;  for  he 
was  often  criticised  for  it.  But  he  made  it  evident  that  he 
9 


130        THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

was  far  from  frivolous  in  this:  it  was  deliberate  and  pro- 
foundly philosophical. 

The  senior  teacher  has  only  to  fall  into  line  with  the 
masters  in  this.  He  will  find  his  pupils  eager  to  listen  to 
anything  which  enlarges  their  view  and  introduces  them  to 
new  facts  of  nature  or  life,  and  to  the  men  and  the  women 
that  are  moving  the  world  along. 

IV.  Utility  of  Illustrations 

This  goes  almost  without  saying,  for  the  masters  have  in- 
variably held  a  utilitarian  aim:  they  have  discarded  every- 
thing but  what  could  help  their  case.  If  any- 
ical  Help  ^  '  thing  has  been  established  in  the  experience  of 
teaching,  this  has  been.  And  teachers  find  this 
out  in  their  personal  experience  before  they  get  very  far 
along. 

Dr.  Guthrie,  when  he  was  a  young  man,  was  not  content 
with  shooting  his  arrows  at  his  chosen  target.  When  he 
would  meet  the  children  of  his  parish  he  would  talk  with 
them,  and  try  to  find  out  what  they  remembered  of  his  ser- 
mons. He  says,  *T  found  that  they  remembered  best  the 
parts  that  had  illustrations;  so  I  resolved  never  to  shoot  off 
an  arrow  without  winging  it."  Any  one  may  make  this  test  for 
himself,  and  upon  himself.  This  is  not  a  matter  of  disposi- 
tion or  personal  peculiarity;  it  is  practically  a  universal  trait. 

V.  The  Philosophy  of  Illustration 

There  is  a  kind  of  philosophy  of  illustrations.  That  is, 
there  are  underlying  principles  that  support  them.  This 
world  is  full  of  resemblances  and  contrasts.  Nothing  stands 
What  alone.     "Nature   is    one   vast    parable."     It   is    a 

Makes  them  diamond  cut  into  myriad  facets.  Each  gleams  in 
Necessary  j^^  proper  turning.  The  things  that  are  in  our 
lives  are  mirrored  in  Mother  Nature.  And  the  things  of  na- 
ture  are  not   separate,   but   all   related.     We   call  the  whole 


ILLUSTRATIONS— THEIR  VALUE  AND  USE    131 

mass  of  things  the  "universe,"  which  name  certifies  to  the 
oneness  of  the  worlds.  If  a  thing  does  not  shine  fully  in  its 
own  light,  we  may  set  up  other  things  by  its  side.  In  the 
light  of  all  it  becomes  clear,  because  all  have  something  in 
common. 

Then  there  are  the  emotions  to  consider.  We  do  not  think 
with  our  intellect  alone.  The  feelings  dwell  in  the  same 
house  with  them,  if  not  even  nearer  than  this.  To  stir  the 
feelings  helps  the  thought.  It  is  better  to  have  two  or  six 
horses  to  harness  to  a  heavy  load  than  to  be  limited  to  one ; 
in  which  case  the  load  would  usually  stay  where  it  is.  The 
story  brings  in  the  reinforcements :  it  calls  the  allies.  There 
is  a  strong  pull  when  you  can  get  the  whole  mind  to  pull  to- 
gether; and  this  is  really  the  grand  problem  of  the  teacher. 
It  is  no  wonder  that  Dr.  Gregory  calls  the  power  to  use  illus- 
trations well  "the  chief  and  central  power  in  the  teacher's 
art." 

Life  loves  life.  We  are  interested  in  other  people  because 
they  are  people — endowed  with  the  same  senses,  and  impulses, 
and  potencies  as  we  are,  and  moving  to  the  same  destinies. 
There  are  stoics,  but  none  are  without  human  sympathy. 
There  are  cynics,  but  none  escape  their  kind  on  every  path. 
When  you  put  another  life  by  the  side  of  mine,  I  am  mag- 
netized by  it.  When  you  take  an  experience  from  my  broth- 
er's years,  and  hold  it  up  in  front  of  one  that  I  am  now 
passing  through,  I  can  not  help  looking  at  it,  and  listening  to 
its  prophecy. 

VI.     Offices  of  Illustration 

I.  It  attracts  attention.  Dr.  Trumbull  tells  about  a 
class  of  lively  boys  that  he  encountered  once  in  a  mission 
school,  to  whom  he  was  to  teach  the  fifty-third  chapter  of 
Isaiah.  But  they  were  a  wriggling  mass  whom  it  seemed 
hopeless  to  try  to  impress  with  Isaiah.  But  he  thought  of 
an  illustration — and  he  won.  "Boys!  did  any  of  you  ever 
see  a  sheep-shearing?"  he  called  sharply.    Yes,  one  of  them 


132        THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

had,  though  this  was  a  city  school.  "Boys!  just  listen,  all 
of  you.  Billy  is  going  to  tell  about  a  sheep-shearing  that  he 
saw  once  out  in  the  country,"  was  the  magic  phrase  that 
did  it.  "Now,  how  was  it,  Billy?"  and  Billy  rose  to  the  op- 
portunity: "Why,  one  old  fellow  just  caught  hold  of  the 
sheep  and  sat  down  on  its  head,  and  another  cut  his  wool 
off."  "How  much  noise  did  the  sheep  make?"  "Not  any: 
he  didn't  bleat  a  bit."  It  was  not  far  from  here  to  an  ex- 
planation of  the  prophecy  in  the  seventh  verse  that  found 
listening  ears. 

One  can  easily  see  the  value  of  a  device  like  this :  An 
old  preacher  leaned  over  the  pulpit  and  said:  "My  friends, 
I  am  going  to  ask  you  a  plain  question;  but  it  is  a  question 
that  not  one  of  you  can  answer.  In  fact,  it  is  a  question  that 
I  can  not  answer  myself.  If  an  angel  from  heaven  should 
come  down  here  right  now,  and  I  should  ask  him  this  ques- 
tion, he  couldn't  answer  it.  It  is  a  question,  my  friends, 
that  not  even  God  Himself  could  answer."  Then  came  the 
solemn  inquiry,  "What  shall  it  profit  a  man  if  he  shall 
gain  the  whole  world,  and  lose  his  own  soul?" 

2.  It  aids  interpretation.  The  understanding  needs  aid, 
and  it  needs  this  more  than  we  are  apt  to  think.  One  reason 
for  this  is  the  poverty  that  belongs  to  words,  and  another  is 
the  paucity  of  words  in  an  ordinary  person's  vocabulary. 
The  dictionary  contains  over  four  hundred  thousand  words, 
and  all  these  are  but  a  drop  in  the  bucket.  But  Muller  tells 
us  that  a  well-educated  person  seldom  uses  more  than  three 
or  four  thousand  words  in  actual  conversation.  Accurate 
speakers  and  close  thinkers  may  use  more.  He  is  an  eloquent 
man  who  uses  ten  thousand.  Shakespeare  stands  at  the  head 
of  all  who  have  used  language,  and  yet  he  built  up  his  won- 
derful plays  with  about  fifteen  thousand  words.  In  Milton's 
prose  works  we  find  eight  thousand  words,  and  the  Old  Tes- 
tament employs  5,642.  Whatever  enhances  the  effects  of 
words,  or  conveys  ideas  beyond  their  reach,  is  of  the  greatest 
value. 


ILLUSTRATIONS— THEIR  VALUE  AND  USE    133 

Then  there  is  the  omnipresent  danger  of  misunderstand- 
ing. How  much  there  is  of  this,  even  when  carefully  guarded 
agaiiist,  is  sad  to  think  of.  An  English  bishop  preached  a 
strong  sermon  against  atheism  from  the  text,  "The  fool  hath 
said  in  his  heart  there  is  no  God."  Some  time  afterward  he 
asked  a  poor  woman  whether  she  had  enjoyed  the  sermon, 
and  she  replied :  "O !  it  was  all  very  fine ;  but,  my  lord,  I 
believe  there's  a  God,  for  all  that."  All  teachers  know  what 
this  is,  and  most  of  them  will  consider  it  worse  to  be  mis- 
understood than  perchance  to  over-illustrate  now  and  then. 

3.  It  illumines  the  understanding.  There  is  much  be- 
yond a  bare  understanding  of  the  meaning  of  a  thing. 
Stories  and  other  forms  of  illustration  have  the  power  to 
raise  the  primary  comprehension  to  a  high  degree.  The  imag- 
ination is  brought  to  the  aid  of  the  intellect,  and  with  its 
marvelous  play  the  thought  becomes  radiant. 

4.  It  deepens  impressions.  Illustration  enables  the 
teacher  to  make  his  appeal  to  the  whole  soul :  the  intellect  is 
informed,  the  imagination  and  the  memory  are  kindled,  and 
the  emotions  are  stirred.  The  amount  of  emphasis  desired 
upon  any  principle  or  precept  is  almost  unlimited,  with  the 
wealth  of  diverse  things  to  draw  upon  for  new  impulses  to 
the  soul. 

5.  It  strengthens  persuasion.  This  follows  from  the 
preceding.  When  all  the  faculties  but  the  will  are  going  in 
one  rushing  stream,  the  volitions  are  most  likely  to  come  in. 
Foster  tells  of  an  English  youth  who  was  wild  and  disso- 
lute, yet  brilliant.  He  was  a  bar-tender.  Nearby  there  was 
a  dissenting  chapel,  where  a  story-telling  cobbler  was  hav- 
ing a  wide  hearing  by  the  power  of  his  illustrations.  One 
night  he  said  to  his  companions,  "Come  on,  let  us  go  down 
and  hear  old  Cole  tell  his  stories."  They  went,  but  the  young 
bar-tender  was  enthralled  by  the  stories  that  he  heard.  His 
name  was  George  Whitefield,  and  the  beginning  of  his  won- 
derful ministry  was  made  that  night. 

Strange  as  it  may  seem,  the  highest  power  of  conviction 

s 


134       THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

does  not  belong  to  logic.  Dr.  John  McClintock  was  a  pro- 
found theologian,  but  he  told  Moncure  D.  Conway  once  that 
no  theological  argument  for  the  resurrection  had  ever  satis- 
fied him  like  the  voice  of  Jenny  Lind  singing,  "I  know  that 
my  Redeemer  liveth." 

It  may  be  hard  to  explain,  but  we  easily  recognize  the 
fact  of  this  persuasive  power.  Why  did  Jesus  tell  the  story 
of  the  Prodigal  Son?  Why  did  He  not  utter  a  series  of  com- 
mandments and  warnings  to  the  wanderers?  Even  a  tyro  in 
human  nature  knows  that  it  is  because  of  the  greater  power 
of  the  story.  Many  a  wayward  sinner  who  has  resisted 
sermons  without  number  has  broken  into  tears  and  surren- 
dered upon  the  mere  recital  of  this  divine  parable.  There 
is  a  deep  lesson  for  teachers  here. 

6.  It  molds  character.  Through  its  peculiar  appeal  to 
the  memory  illustration  constantly  tends  to  render  the  results 
of  teaching  permanent.  A  story,  a  leaf  from  the  page  of 
another's  life  that  fits  our  own,  will  generally  stay  with  us 
when  all  other  elements  of  the  lesson  have  faded  in  the  dis- 
tance. Sometimes  a  single  bright  picture  has  remained  the 
bulwark  and  the  inspiration  of  a  life. 

We  can  not  protract  this  enumeration,  inadequate  as  it 
is.  Dr.  W.  L.  Hervey  indorses  as  true  and  profound  the 
statement  of  G.  Stanley  Hall,  that  "of  all  the  things  that  a 
teacher  should  know  how  to  do,  the  most  important,  without 
exception,  is  to  be  able  to  tell  a  story."  He  tells  of  a  student 
pursuing  a  university  course  in  education,  who  had  been 
studying  the  sources  and  methods  of  illustration.  He  said, 
"It  gradually  dawned  upon  me  that,  if  I  knew  how  to  tell  a 
story,  I  had  mastered  the  main  part  of  the  art  of  teaching." 
Dr.  Hervey's  analysis  of  this  is :  "For  to  know  a  good  story 
is  to  have  literary  and  pedagogic  taste;  to  adapt  or  make  a 
good  story  for  children  is  both  to  know  the  secret  of  the 
mind  of  a  child  and  to  have  creative  power ;  to  tell  a  good 
story  is  to  be  master  of  a  noble  art." 


ILLUSTRATIONS— THEIR  VALUE  AND  USE    13S 

VII.  Sources  and  Rules 

We  are  inclined  to  make  these  brief.  A  live  teacher's  in- 
tuition will  do  much  for  him,  and  his  work  will  usually  do 
the  rest.  Wide  and  constant  reading  is  necessary,  of  course. 
Conversations  and  lectures  will  always  yield  something. 
Works  of  art  and  the  panorama  of  nature  are  continual  reve- 
lations. The  first  secret  is  an  eager  mind,  and  the  next  is 
the  habit  of  reflection.  Another  is  an  absorbing  interest  in 
our  pupils.  With  our  eyes  fixed  upon  their 
Secure°them  ^^^^^>  the  things  to  gratify  these  will  not  be  al- 
lowed to  sweep  unnoticed  past  us.  It  is  doubt- 
less true  that  the  mind  that  can  use  a  story  can  be  trusted  to 
note  it,  and  to  capture  it  when  it  comes  along.  Nor  is  it 
necessary  to  formulate  detailed  rules  for  the  use  of  stories. 
If  the  one  end  of  the  pupil's  advantage  is  kept  clearly  in  the 
view,  and  all  things  are  regulated  accordingly,  there  is  little 
danger  of  misusing  illustrations.  The  teacher  who  is  con- 
stantly watchful  of  effects  is  not  likely  to  misjudge  these 
many  times. 

VIII.  An  Illustration  of  Illustration 

We  condense  the  following  from  Elizabeth- Harrison,  in 
the  Sunday-School  Times:  A  teacher  was  asked  to  take  a 
class  of  young  toughs  in  a  mission  school  who  had  worn  out 

four    teachers.     The    superintendent    had    threat- 
A  Skillful  J  ^        •     .  .1,  J  ft,    •  1  J 

Illustrator  ened  to  eject  them,  and  their  only  answer  was  de- 
risive laughter.  There  was  a  succession  of  out- 
rageous antics  before  the  time  for  the  lesson.  Then  one  boy 
raised  his  blacking-box  and  scraped  it  across  the  face  of 
another  boy.  In  a  moment  the  usual  fight  was  imminent. 
But  the  teacher  was  quicker  than  the  blow.  She  seized  the 
blacking-box  and  cried  out,  "I  can  tell  you  something  about 
this  box  that  you  do  not  know."  The  boys  were  astonished, 
and  there  was  silence  for  a  moment.  "Bah !"  said  one, 
"you  're  tryin'  to  guy  us  now."     "Give  us  a  rest,"  said  an- 


136       THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

other  skeptic,  tauntingly.  But  others  cried,  "What  is  it?" 
"Go  ahead."  The  teacher  began :  "Of  what  is  this  box 
made?"  "Wood,  of  course,"  said  two  or  three  of  the  disap- 
pointed group,  the  look  of  contempt  returning  to  their  faces. 
"O,  yes,  of  course.  But  where  did  the  wood  come  from?" 
said  the  teacher.  She  pursued  the  inquiry  until  the  best 
posted  of  them  had  come  to  the  end  of  his  knowledge.  Then 
she  began  and  described  for  them  the  long,  slow  growth  of 
the  forest  trees.  Then  the  long  years  of  waiting,  until  the 
woodman  came  with  his  ax;  the  busy,  picturesque  life  of  the 
logging  camp;  the  dangerous  voyage  of  the  logs,  tied  to- 
gether in  a  rift,  floating  down  the  broad  river,  and  the  won- 
derful processes  of  the  lumber  mill.  The  boys  were  quiet  to 
the  end,  and  their  deep-drawn  sighs  were  eloquent.  The 
teacher  continued,  "I  think  that  I  know  something  more  about 
this  box  that  you  do  n't  know."  She  took  up  the  story  of 
the  nails,  including  the  work  of  the  miners,  and  brought 
in  many  other  things  that  boys  like  to  know.  Gradually 
the  ringleader  of  the  boys  projected  his  head  to  the  limit 
of  his  neck,  and  then  exclaimed  in  tones  of  the  deepest 
reverence :  "I  know  what  you  are.  You  're  a  fortune- 
teller, that 's  what  you  are."  This  was  the  highest  tribute 
he  could  pay  her.  This  teacher  knew  everything,  apparently. 
And  she  had  gained  her  point.  It  was  no  slight  task  to 
transfigure  idle  curiosity  into  reverence,  but  she  had  succeeded 
in  doing  this  thing.  Slowly  but  surely  she  built  up  an  altar 
in  them  to  the  unknown  God,  which  altar  was  necessary 
before  the  God  of  righteousness  and  mercy  and  love  could 
be  preached  unto  them. 

Illustration  is  not  for  its  own  sake,  but  for  the  sake  of 
the  highest  and  holiest  things.  It  is  often  the  only  way  to 
these,  and  its  success  then  saves  the  entire  structure  of 
teaching.  If  rightly  used,  it  may  reveal  a  shining  pathway 
from  the  common  things  in  the  dusty  road  to  the  throne  of 
God  Himself. 


ILLUSTRATIONS— THEIR  VALUE  AND  USE    137 

Lesson  Outline: 

I.  The  Windows  of  Speech. 

II.  Popularity  of  Illustrations. 

III.  Masters  of  Illustration. 

IV.  Utility  of  Illustrations. 

V.  The  Philosophy  of  Illustration. 

VI.  Offices  of  Illustration. 

VII.  Sources  and  Rules. 

VIII.  An  Illustration  of  Illustration. 

Topics  for  Special  Study: 

1.  The  parables  of  Jesus. 

2.  The  principles  underlying  the  use  of  illustrations. 

Topics  for  Class  Discussion: 

1.  Why  do  we  illustrate? 

2.  The  popularity  of  illustrations. 

3.  What  has  been  your  personal  experience  in  the  hear- 

ing of  illustrations? 

4.  Your  experience  in  the  use  of  illustrations? 

5.  What  principles  underlie  the  use  of  illustrations? 

6.  State  the  six  offices  of  illustration  named. 

7.  What  others  can  you  add? 

8.  Sources  of  illustrations. 

9.  Learning  to  illustrate  by  practice. 

10.    The  investment  of  time  and  study  in  illustration. 


CHAPTER  X 

A  STUDY  OF  THE  SENIOR  PROBLEM 


CHAPTER  X 
A  STUDY  OF  THE  SENIOR  PROBLEM 

I.  The  Gravest  of  Problems 

We  are  accustomed  to  hear  much  of  the  pressing  prob- 
lems of  the  Church.  There  is  finance,  and  there  is  worldli- 
ness,  and  there  are  small  congregations  and  prayer-meetings 

n»i-    c  -1  and  revivals  and  missions   and  education ;   there 

Tne  r  ailure  ,  . 

to  Hold  are  backslidings  and  apostasies,  and  there  is  the 

Our  Young  paucity  of  young  ministers.  But  it  should  be 
People  g^gy  fQj.  ^11  ^Q  ggg  ^jj^^  j^Qj^g  Qf  these  problems — 

and  they  are  real — compare  v^ith  that  of  young  people — our 
own,  born  into  our  homes  and  our  Churches  and  subject  to 
our  chosen  modes  of  culture  from  their  infancy.  If  we  do 
not  win  from  the  world  outside  it  is  deplorable;  but  if  we 
do  not  hold  our  own  it  is  fatal.  Secretary  Randall  wrote: 
"The  Church  must  be  built  up  from  the  young  people.  Sta- 
tistics and  experience  show  that  a  church  that  depends  upon 
conversions  from  mature  people  must  die.  If  we  despair 
of  our  young  people  we  must  despair  of  everything.  The 
Church  that  fails  with  the  young  people  fails  utterly  and  at 
the  very  foundation."  And  it  is  evident  that  our  prosperity 
is  not  a  question  of  young  people  in  general,  but  of  our 
own  first.  For  if  we  can  not  win  and  hold  these,  what  hope 
or  what  need  of  winning  those  outside? 

II.  Conditions  of  the  Problem 

I.     Few  young  people  in  our  schools.     We  sat  on  the 

platform,  not  long  ago,  during  a  Sunday-school  celebration 
in  one  of  our  finest  churches  in  a  great  city.  The  pastor 
pointed  to  a  room  with  a  handful  of  pupils  in  it,  and  said, 
"There  is  the  darkest  problem  of  our  whole  work — right  in 

141 


142       THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

that  room."  It  was  the  young  people's  class.  Most  of  our 
pastors  and  other  workers  know  something  about  this.  A 
common  observation  in  a  Sunday-school  shows  a  bright  and 
Few  Senior  blessed  company  of  beginners.  They  are  crowd- 
Pupils  ing  their  room  and  calling  for  larger  quarters. 
in  Our  It  is  mucli  the  same  with  the  primaries.  There 
Schools  jg  usually  inspiration  here.  But  the  juniors  show 
a  little  falling  off,  and  the  intermediates  more.  There  are 
adult  classes  pretty  well  maintained,  especially  of  late,  under 
the  stimulus  of  the  new  movement  for  adults ;  but  the  seniors 
are  few  and  far  between.  The  Senior  Department  is  the 
smallest  in  the  school.  Most  likely  there  is  no  such  depart- 
ment. Even  though  the  school  calls  itself  organized  and 
graded,  it  probably  has  no  place  marked  off  for  the  youth 
whom  we  are  studying.  One  of  the  hardest  things  to  find, 
even  in  an  up-to-date  Sunday-school,  is  just  this  Senior  De- 
partment. It  lives  on  paper  only  in  most  schools,  if  indeed 
it  does  there.  Nature  has  marked  off  this  group  distinctly, 
and  secular  education  recognizes  it  everywhere,  but  in  die 
Sunday-school  it  goes  unnoticed  and  uncared  for  in  any  spe- 
cific way.  What  few  adolescents  of  this  age  are  to  be  found 
at  all  will  be  found  either  scattered  among  the  adults  or 
graded  with  them. 

2.  It  is  a  distinct  loss.  It  is  not  as  if  we  never  had 
these  individuals  and  had  not  succeeded  in  winning  them 
from  without:  we  have  had  them  all,  and  have  lost  them 
We  Had  from    our    schools.      It    is    far    worse    than    an 

Them  Dur-  ordinary  disappointment.  More  than  this,  we 
ing  Earlier  expected  to  keep  them.  We  have  had  the  care 
Years  ^£   them   and   have    selected   and   used    the   best 

methods  of  training  them,  supposedly,  with  the  express  pur- 
pose of  holding  them  to  the  school  and  the  Church.  Their 
loss  discredits  our  methods.  More  than  this,  it  discourages 
us,  for  it  nullifies  all  our  previous  toil.  What  is  the  use 
of  the  lovely  and  promising  primary  work  if  its  influence 
evaporates?    What  is  the  use  of  bringing  the  children  through 


A   STUDY   OF  THE   SENIOR   PROBLEM         143 

the  four  prior  departments  if  they  are  to  be  lost  to  the  school 
in  this  ?  These  depressing  conditions  are  not  superficial :  they 
go  deep  down. 

3.  The  fateful  years.  These  young  people  are  also  lost 
to  the  Church  (speaking  now  without  reference  to  future 
possibilities).  The  problem  is  much  wider  than  the  school. 
Not  a  We   have   labored   with   these   children   all   their 

New  life.    We  have  prayed  for  them  and  yearned  over 

Problem.  them  with  the  supreme  desire  of  seeing  them  dis- 

ciples of  Christ  and  members  of  His  Church,  but  many  of 
them  have  wandered  away.  This  has  been  a  patent  and  a 
grievous  fact  for  many  years.  Long  ago  Bishop  Simpson 
was  the  guest  of  a  friend  of  his  in  Gainesville,  Georgia,  who 
says:  "We  had  a  long  and  earnest  talk  on  this  subject, 
and  he  asked,  sadly:  'What  must  be  done?  .  Despite  our 
Sunday-schools  and  protracted  services  and  professed  devo- 
tion to  children,  we  lose  every  year  more  Methodist  children 
in  the  older  Conferences  than  v/e  save  of  adult  sinners  from 
the  world !' "  At  this  time  revival  work  was  at  its  high  tide 
in  our  Church,  bringing  in  probably  as  many  converts  as 
at  any  period  in  our  history.  And  the  older  Conferences 
were  the  places  where  we  should  naturally  hope  for  our  best 
results,  if  our  gospel  is  a  growing  thing.  It  is  probable 
that  we  are  losing  more  of  our  youth  now  than  in  Bishop 
Simpson's  day,  although  it  is  difficult  to  obtain  reliable  figures 
upon  this.  Principal  Ritchie  and  Dr.  Swinnerton,  of  Eng- 
land, however,  have  made  a  somewhat  thorough  investigation 
of  conditions  in  the  Wesleyan  Church,  with  this  result :  "We 
have  found  that  the  Church  has  retained  in  active  member- 
ship ten  per  cent  of  Sunday-school  scholars.  Another  ten 
per  cent  have  hung  to  the  skirts  of  the  Church,  while  eighty 
per  cent  have  been  lost.  Yet  that  twenty  per  cent  constitutes 
seventy-eight  per  cent  of  the  total  Church  membership;  only 
twenty-two  per  cent  coming  in  as  a  result  of  a  vast  expendi- 
ture of  money  in  mission  hall  and  other  work."  This  is  a 
dark   picture,    especially    when    we   consider    the    diminishing 


144       THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

enrollment  of  the  Sunday-schools  of  that  and  most  of  the 
other  Free  Churches  of  Great  Britain.  It  is  hoped  that  we 
are  doing  a  little  better  than  this  in  our  own  Churches  on 
this  side  of  the  Atlantic,  but  we  have  much  to  lament  at  best. 

4.  Not  the  Churches  alone.  The  problem  broadens,  for 
we  find  much  the  same  conditions  in  general  education.  There 
are  over  17,000,000  of  elementary  pupils  in  the  schools  of 
The  Public  America,  and  only  790,912  in  the  high  schools 
School  and  academies,  and  162,918  in  the  colleges.  Natu- 
Faiis  to  rally  we  should  expect  fewer  young  people  pur- 
Hold  Them  s^ijng  their  studies  as  they  grow  older  and  the 
demand  for  their  industrial  service  increases,  but  this  dis- 
parity is  alarming.  It  points  to  some  dismal  and  perilous 
influences  that  are  manifestly  at  work  within  the  vitals  of 
cur  young  life.  Where  education  is  as  much  valued  as  it 
is  throughout  the  civilized  world,  and  where  it  is  so  excellent 
and  so  easily  obtainable  as  in  this  favored  land,  we  ought 
to  expect  much  larger  numbers  of  our  youth  to  seek  these 
high  privileges. 

5.  The  lure  of  vice.  It  is  distinctly  the  darkest  stain 
upon  the  pages  of  our  modern  society  that  so  many  of  our 
youth    are   yielding   to   the    baleful    enticements    of    vice.      If 

only  the  neglected  children  grew  up  to  practice 
Many  ^^jj^  j^  would  be  less  strange.     If  only  the  poor 

Immoral  ^"^  ^^^  ignorant  were  ensnared,  we  could  endure 

it  better,  for  then  we  might  have  hope  in  pros- 
perity and  intelligence.  But  it  is  an  open  secret  that  vast 
numbers  of  the  young  people  of  "the  best  families"  are  in- 
subordinate and  become  finally  uncontrollable.  They  "sow 
their  wild  oats,"  and  they  reap  the  harvest  that  never  fails. 
Our  highest  hopes  and  our  fairest  confidence  are  mocked  by 
the  saloons  that  abound  in  our  land,  and  all  haunts  of  vice 
fatten  on  victims  that  they  have  captured  from  the  Churches. 
Satan  is  no  respecter  of  persons. 

6.  The  spiritual  poverty  of  adolescence.  There  are 
some  flowers  of  youthful  piety  and  nobility  most  fair.     There 


A  STUDY  OF  THE  SENIOR  PROBLEM  145 

are  many  who  walk  in  wisdom's  ways  like  angels,  a  delight 
to  their  parents  and  teachers  and  a  benediction  to  the  world. 
But  there  is  a  spiritual  poverty  that  so  widely  prevails  as 
.  to  be  almost  general.     By  this  we  do  not  mean 

Profound  a   scarcity  of   emotional   experiences,   of  course; 

Lack  of  but  a  profound  lack  of  the  real  elements  of  the 

High  Ideals  spiritual  life.  The  many-sided  allurements  of  a 
refined  materialism  seem  to  be  the  capital  charm  for  too 
many  of  the  young.  They  are  fond  of  dress  and  convivial 
parties  and  dancing  and  sporting  and  flirtation.  There  is  a 
conspicuous  lack  of  devotion  to  high  ideals,  and  even  of 
the  perception  of  these.  There  are  frivolous  views  of  life 
and  its  serious  duties,  unbecoming  to  the  capable  years  of 
later  youth.  There  is  an  ignorance  of  the  Bible  that  as- 
tonishes college  professors  and  others  who  try  to  converse 
seriously  with  young  people;  and  not  only  of  this,  but  ig- 
norance of  the  poets  and  of  the  kings  and  queens  of  litera- 
ture and  art  in  general.  Our  young  people  are  thronging 
the  theaters  and  the  dance-halls  and  the  ballgrounds,  and 
they  are  expert  in  the  fashions  almost  before  these  arrive; 
but  multitudes  mind  not  the  things  that  are  true  and  good 
and  beautiful.  They  are  content  to  live  in  the  world  below 
these. 

III.    A  Handicap  on  the  Church 

These  conditions  are  more  than  a  reflection  upon  our 
ability  and  methods :  they  constitute  a  real  handicap  upon 
the  Church  in  its  work  generally.  Take  the  matter  of  evan- 
Crippiesthe  gelism,  for  instance.  The  "sinner"  is  saying, 
Evangelism  "Why  should  I  enter  a  household  of  faith  whose 
of  the  children    are   leaving   it?'*     Take   the   matter    of 

Church  denominational    education.      Men    of    means    are 

asking  why  they  should  give  money  to  our  colleges  when 
so  many  of  our  children  go  elsewhere.  Take  the  case  of 
our  mission  work.  The  "heathen"  are  asking  why  we  should 
seek  to  Christianize  them  when  we  can  not  Christianize  our 


146       THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

own  sons  and  daughters ;  and  why  should  they  espouse  a 
religion  that  shows  the  most  disheartening  conditions  where 
it  has  lived  longest  and  had  the  opportunity  to  show  through 
a  series  of  years  what  it  really  is,  and  where  it  has  spent 
most  of  its  toil  and  treasure? 

The  senior  problem  is  not  a  little  affair  of  the  Sunday- 
schools  :  it  is  a  prime  interest  of  the  whole  Church  and  all 
the  Churches;  it  belongs  to  the  entire  body  that  we  call 
society.  The  condition  of  the  young  men  of  this  country 
is  a  standing  challenge  to  the  strength  of  our  civilization; 
and  that  of  our  young  women  is  the  same. 

IV.    Locating  the  Causes 

Of  course  we  have  not  mentioned  these  depressing  things 
to  leave  them.  It  is  our  chief  business  to  ascertain  their 
causes,  that  we  may  remove  them  if  possible.  The  most 
"Where  natural   reply  to  these  presentations,  perhaps,   is 

Does  the  that   it   is   the   fault   of  the  young   people   them- 

Responsi-  selves.  They  have  the  opportunities,  and  they 
bihtyLie  have  been  abundantly  taught  and  preached  at  and 

warned :  now  if  they  go  wrong  or  fail  to  rise  to  high  manly 
and  womanly  levels,  they  need  blame  nobody  but  themselves. 
But  this  is  not  at  all  in  the  temper  of  the  true  teacher. 
We  confess  to  a  degree  of  impatience  when  we  hear  parents 
and  others  talking  in  this  strain.  For  present  purposes  at 
least,  it  is  necessary  for  us  to  set  entirely  aside  any  re- 
sponsibility that  the  young  persons  may  have.  The  real  be- 
liever in  education  can  not  get  away  from  the  fundamental 
principle  that  the  child  that  is  fairly  and  rightly  trained  will 
grow  up  into  a  normal  manhood  or  womanhood.  The  human 
plant  is  at  no  disadvantage  compared  with  a  cactus  or  an 
orange  tree.  This  is  not  saying  that  training  is  all  of  the 
two  parents,  for  there  are  many  other  agencies  to  be  con- 
sidered. At  any  rate,  we  are  bound  to  examine  our  own 
work  and  to  make  sure  that  we  have  done  our  part  before 
we  blame  the  young  people. 

s 


A  STUDY  OF  THE  SENIOR  PROBLEM  147 

Nor  are  we  going  to  lay  the  responsibilty  upon  our  re- 
ligion. To  be  sure,  there  are  those  who  say  that  Chris- 
tianity is  not  suited  to  young  people,  and  that  they  do  not 
find  much  in  it.  We  must  proceed  upon  the  conviction  that 
the  gospel  is  for  all  men  and  for  all  the  years  of  men :  there 
is  no  time  of  life  to  which  Jesus  Christ  does  not  make  His 
simple  and  adequate  appeal,  and  there  can  be  no  time  when 
He  is  willing  to  lose  His  hold  upon  a  soul  to  the  advantage 
of  Satan. 

I.  Is  our  theology  responsible?  It  is  less  easy  to 
negative  this,  for  though  the  basis  of  theology  is  the  divine 
revelation,  there  is  a  large  human  element  in  the  super- 
Our  structure;    and   it   is    possible   that   this    may   be 

Theology  at   fault,    SO    far   as    our   work   with    adolescents 

at  is  concerned.     For  many  generations  harsh  doc- 

Fault  trines    of    God   have   been    preached.      They    are 

being  rapidly  abandoned  in  our  day,  it  is  true,  but  they  have 
produced  their  effects.  Extravagant  theories  of  the  inspi- 
ration of  the  Bible  have  been  urged  upon  young  people. 
It  does  not  change  their  results  to  say  that  we  do  not  now 
accept  these.  Offensive  doctrines  of  prayer  have  been  put 
forth.  This  is  but  an  example:  "The  famous  John  Eliot, 
missionary  to  the  Indians,  was  informed  that  Mr.  Foster, 
a  godly  man,  had  been  taken  prisoner  and  made  a  slave  by 
a  prince  who  had  declared  that  no  captive  should  be  re- 
leased in  his  lifetime.  The  following  Sunday,  before  a  large 
congregation,  Mr.  Eliot  prayed:  'Heavenly  Father,  work  for 
the  redemption  of  thy  poor  servant,  Foster.  If  the  prince 
who  detains  him  will  not  dismiss  him  so  long  as  he  lives, 
kill  him  and  glorify  Thyself.'  Mr.  Foster  quickly  returned 
from  captivity.  The  prince  had  come  to  an  untimely  death, 
and  he  had  been  set  at  liberty."  Not  long  ago  the  late 
Dr.  Joseph  Parker,  of  London,  called  upon  God  in  plain  terms 
to  damn  the  Sultan  of  Turkey,  and  the  multitudes,  no  doubt, 
think  that  this  prayer  was  answered. 

Lecky  states  that  the  leaders  of  the  Wesleyan  revival  in 


148        THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

the  eighteenth  century  "were  never  tired  of  urging  that  all 
men  are  in  a  state  of  damnation  who  have  not  experienced 
a  sudden,  violent,  and  supernatural  change,  accompanied  or 
followed  by  an  absolute  assurance  of  salvation  and  by  a 
complete  dominion  over  sin."  John  Wesley  disavowed  his 
belief  in  this  drastic  theory  of  salvation  late  in  life,  but 
there  is  no  doubt  of  the  substantial  truthfulness  of  Lecky's 
testimony.  Gloomy  precepts  concerning  the  Sabbath  have 
been  over-abundant,  also  terrible  portrayals  concerning  hell. 
Even  heaven  has  been  painted  in  repellent  colors.  Dr.  Etter 
cites  the  case  of  a  little  girl  who  was  talking  to  her  mother 
about  heaven.  She  said,  "Mamma,  are  there  any  picture- 
books  in  heaven?"  "No,"  replied  the  parent.  "No  Noah's 
arks?"  (a  toy  that  she  especially  liked).  "No,"  came  the 
response.  "No  dolls?"  "No,"  emphatically  answered  the 
mother.  The  little  child  dropped  her  head,  evidently  reflect- 
ing, and  after  a  long  pause  she  closed  her  meditation  with 
a  long-drawn  sigh :  "Well,  then,  I  believe  that  I  '11  take  doUie 
and  go  to  hell."  The  painful  fact  is,  that  what  this  child 
said  in  her  childishness  multitudes  of  young  men  and  women 
have  said  in  sober  earnest.  That  is,  they  have  seen  nothing 
desirable  in  the  orthodox  heaven  that  has  been  preached  to 
them  and  have  discarded  it  as  not  worth  while,  taking  their 
chances  on  the  possible  alternative. 

2.  Have  we  lacked  sympathy?  Something  more  im- 
portant than  theology  must  also  be  considered:  sympathy. 
Have  we  manifested  the  true  Spirit  of  Christ  in  our  work 
A  Lack  ^^^^    young   people  ?      Is    it    true,    as    Stevenson 

of  the  affirms,  that  the  trouble  with  moral  men  is  that 

Spirit  of  they    are    lacking    in    gentleness    and    kindness  ? 

Christ  Have  we  remembered  that  the  youth  are  imma- 

ture and  inexperienced,  and  often  fevered  with  longings  that 
we  have  outgrown?  Have  we  never  made  our  teaching  a 
harsh  infliction?  Have  we  not  been  too  free  with  our  scold- 
ings and  threatenings  ? 

Dr.    Keats,   an   old   Eton   master,   is    said   to   have    really 


A  STUDY  OF  THE  SENIOR  PROBLEM  149 

flogged  his  boys,  innocent  and  guilty,  with  indiscriminating 
dehght.  He  once  said  to  his  class,  with  stern  and  com- 
manding manner :  "Blessed  are  the  pure  in  heart.  Mind 
that.  It 's  your  duty  to  be  pure  in  heart,  and  if  you  are 
not  pure  in  heart  I  '11  flog  you."  Once,  on  entering  his 
ofiice,  he  found  a  company  of  boys  awaiting  him.  Dragging 
the  first  boy  to  the  ever-present  flogging-block,  on  which  the 
writhing  victim  knelt,  he  proceeded  vigorously  to  use  his 
cruel  birch.  He  proceeded  down  the  line  until  half  the  class 
had  received  visible  marks  of  his  scholarship,  when  one  of 
the  trembling  lads  stammered  out,  "Please,  sir,  we  're  the 
confirmation  class."  This  is  an  extreme  case,  but  we  have 
seen  teachers  and  preachers  who  believed  in  Keats'  prin- 
ciple. It  makes  shrieking  discord  with  the  winsomeness  of 
Jesus,  and  the  young  folks  know  it. 

3.  Has  the  Church  done  her  best?  We  fear  not.  With 
all  her  consecration  and  efifort  and  glory,  she  has  not  been 
perfect — and  her  failure  seems  to  have  hurt  her  youth  most. 
^  She  has  not  always  been  enterprising,   ready  to 

Distrust  move  out  upon  new  lines,  and  she  has  sometimes 

of  Knowl-  shown  fear  of  the  truth.  Concerning  this  latter 
^**^®  James   Russell  Lowell  said,  "Theology  will  find 

out  in  good  time  that  there  is  no  atheism  at  once  so  stupid 
and  so  harmful  as  the  fancying  God  to  be  afraid  of  any 
knowledge  with  which  He  has  enabled  man  to  equip  him- 
self." The  harm  of  this  form  of  atheism  falls  cruelly  upon 
studious  and  frank  young  people. 

As  to  the  over-conservatism  of  the  Church,  take  but  a 
few  citations.  Thomas  Davidson  says :  "From  the  days  of 
Alcuin  to  the  rise  of  Protestantism  education  was  almost 
entirely  in  the  hands  of  the  clergy.  Since  that  event,  but 
particularly  since  the  French  Revolution,  there  has  been  an 
increasing  tendency  to  withdraw  it  from  the  Church  alto- 
gether and  hand  it  over  to  the  State.  .  .  .  Likewise  we 
find  public  bequests  diverted  more  and  more  from  the  Church 
to  the  college,  the  library,  and  the  hospital  or  asylum.    Mani- 


150       THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

festly  there  is  a  feeling  that  the  school  in  one  form  or 
another  is  the  progressive,  investigating,  developing  element 
in  our  civilization;  that  the  Church  is  the  conservative, 
apologetic,  self-complacent,  propagandic,  and  fossilized.  This 
sounds  hard,  and  yet  the  Bishop  of  Coventry  says  baldly, 
"While  the  school  is  being  modernized  the  Church  is  being 
fossilized."  Phillips  Brooks  declared  that  every  man  must 
own  that  his  theology  is  harder  than  the  New  Testament, 
and  that  it  is  the  New  Testament  and  not  our  theology  that 
we  ought  to  teach  our  children.  Dr.  Shauffler  says  of  min- 
isters that  though  they  are  among  the  first  to  lament  the 
incompetence  of  Sunday-school  workers  they  are  "among  the 
last  to  remedy  the  evil.  Why?  Because  they  have  not 
been  taught  how  to  do  it." 

"The  parable  of  the  tadpole's  tail"  is  one  of  G.  Stanley 
Hall's  pithy  illustrations.  He  uses  it  to  enforce  a  truth  that  we 
must  take  at  least  a  glance  at :  lower  faculties  have  to  be 
developed,  or  else  the  higher  which  should  supersede  them 
will  never  grow.  He  tells  us  that  there  is  a  function  for 
the  tadpole's  tail.  If  this  is  cut  off  the  legs  will  not  grow 
quicker — they  will  not  grow  at  all.  The  tail  never  falls 
off,  as  according  to  the  popular  notion.  Never  a  tadpole 
lost  his  tail  thus.  It  is  absorbed,  and  in  some  way  it  makes 
the  legs  possible  after  a  while.  It  is  not  enough  to  begin 
right  with  the  seniors :  their  proper  development  depends 
upon  things  done  right  in  the  past,  and  if  these  have  been 
neglected  there  is  no  doing  them  over  or  doing  without  them. 
If  the  Church  has  failed  anywhere  along  the  growing  line, 
it  must  accept  the  responsibility  for  the  resulting  failures 
of  youth. 

4.  Other  complications.  Our  problem  may  seem  com- 
The  plicated    enough   without   anything   more,   but   in 

Home  is  fact,  it  involves  the  home  as  well  as  the  Church. 

Involved  'pj^^  distracting  competitions  of  society  and  busi- 

ness come  in  also,  and  the  countless  fascinations  of  our 
swift  modern  life. 

3 


A  STUDY  OF  THE  SENIOR  PROBLEM  151 

We  do  not  refer  to  any  of  these  things  lightly,  and  cer- 
tainly not  for  discouragement.  On  the  contrary,  they  contain 
a  basis  for  a  solid  encouragement.  The  huge  problem  of  how- 
to  hold  and  to  train  rightly  our  young  people  is  one  to  be 
solved — and  it  can  be  solved. 

Lesson  Ouiline:  • 

I.  The  Gravest  of  Problems. 

II.  Conditions  of  the  Problem. 

III.  A  Handicap  on  the  Church. 

IV.  Locating  the  Causes. 

Topics  for  Special  Study: 

1.  Why  do  not  more  young  people  go  to  college? 

2.  At  what  period  does  the  Church  lose  its  hold  on 

young  life? 

Topics  for  Class  Discussion: 

1.  The  recruiting  ground  of  the  Church.  . 

2.  Why  are  there  so  few  Senior  Departments? 

3.  What  proportion  of  our  youth  may  we  expect  to 

save? 

4.  Why  do  so  few  young  people  go  beyond  the  gram- 

mar grades  in  school? 

5.  Why  do  not  young  people  come  to  Church? 

6.  The  Church's  share  of  the  general  responsibility. 

7.  The  over-conservatism  of  the  Church. 

8.  Dependence  of  the  mission  fields  on  the  Church  at 

home. 

9.  What  has  been  your  experience  with  teachers  as  to 

their  sympathy? 
10.    Our  duty  to  set  forth  the  gospel  in  its  simplicity 
and  purity. 


CHAPTER  XI 
MORNING-GLORY  BLOSSOMS 


CHAPTER  XI 
MORNING-GLORY  BLOSSOMS 

I.    The  Coming  of  the  Young 

In  the  new  daj^  that  is  even  now  dawning  on  the  Church 
there  will  be  young  people  within  her  fold:  not  a  lonesome 
and  exceptional  few  here  and  there,  but  great  hosts  of  them. 
Youth  will  They  will  "crowd  her  gates  with  thankful  joy." 
Find  Satis-  They  will  not  be  driven  in,  but  will  come  gladly 
faction  in  and  with  enthusiasm  to  serve  the  Bride  of  Christ, 
Religion  ^j^^  jj^  ^j^jg  ^Q  j^^ip  ^Q  gj^^g  ^^^  world.    They  will 

come  then  as  they  throng  the  broad  road  of  pleasure  now. 
They  will  seek  the  same  satisfactions,  but  of  different  and 
deeper  needs.  They  will  show  an  exuberant  self-expression, 
but  from  changed  impulses  and  aims.  They  will  not  be 
radically  changed:  that  is,  they  are  not  to  skip  the  period 
of  youth  and  become  prematurely  old;  but  they  will  find 
religious  ideals  that  are  attractive  to  them.  They  will  re- 
act to  these  because  of  their  truth  and  their  adaptation  to 
themselves.  The  young  people  of  the  future  will  be  more 
nearly  normal  in  their  youth  than  they  are  now.  Youth 
will  be  rectified  and  intensified,  rather  than  obliterated.  The 
morbid  craving  of  the  young  for  excitement  and  dissipation 
is  curbed  in  their  interest,  for  as  it  is  gratified  it  tends  to 
darken  youth  and  to  hurry  on  the  infirmities  of  age.  To 
cut  out  the  excesses  and  the  extravagances  of  youth  is  to 
purify  it  and  perfect  it.  Religion  can  do  this,  and  some  day 
the  young  people  of  our  land  will  learn  this  capital  lesson. 
They  will  turn  from  the  things  that  have  mocked  them 
so  long  to  the  fountains  of  living  waters.  They  will  sur- 
render the  carnal  and  the  material  in  the  interest  of  the  spir- 

155  ^ 


156       THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

itual.  They  will  no  longer  deprive  their  noblest  powers  of 
due  nourishment  or  exercise.  They  will  seek  the  develop- 
ment of  the  whole  nature  harmoniously. 

II.    The  Religiousness  of  Youth 

Does  the  foregoing  sound  like  a  rosy  prophecy?  Is  it 
too  good  to  be  true?  We  can  easily  see  how  much  it  would 
mean  to  the  Church  and  the  kingdom  if  it  should  come 
The  Basis  ^^  pass.  If  it  should  happen  all  at  once  it  would 
for  this  be  a   revolution   more  tremendous  than  any  the 

Vitaiization  Church  has  ever  known.  Of  course,  this  will 
of  Youth  j^Q^   gQ   happen ;    but   whenever   and   however    it 

does  happen,  the  results  will  be  grand  in  the  same  degree. 
The  question  is,  whether  this  glorious  vitaiization  (it  should 
scarcely  be  called  a  revival)  of  our  youth  is  a  reasonable  hope. 
We  think  that  it  can  be  shown  to  be  such. 

In  the  first  place,  there  is  the  religious  nature  of  man. 
This  is  essential  and  universal.  "Man  is  incurably  religious." 
All  men  show  its  signs,  and  these  appear  at  all  times  of  the 
life.  They  do  not  wait  to  manifest  themselves  until  maturity, 
or  even  youth.  In  early  childhood  unmistakable  expressions 
of  piety  are  noted,  and  this  in  striking  forms.  There  is  no 
doubt  that  we  are  born  with  a  capacity  for  religion,  just 
as  we  are  born  with  a  capacity  for  intelligence.  The  ancients 
perceived  this  in  their  way.  Among  the  Romans  the  custom 
prevailed  of  holding  the  face  of  every  new-born  infant  toward 
the  heavens,  signifying  by  thus  presenting  his  forehead  to 
the  stars  that  he  was  to  look  above  the  world  into  celestial 
glories.  Quite  recently  the  correspondence  column  of  the 
British  Weekly  contained  this  question  from  a  boy  eight  years 
old:  "Did  Jesus,  while  a  Babe  in  the  manger  at  Bethlehem, 
know  or  was  He  conscious  of  the  details  of  His  future  life 
in  the  world?"  Of  this  one  of  our  editors  says:  "At  first 
we  are  inclined  to  marvel  at  this  boy's  bent  of  mind,  and 
wonder  that  one  so  young  should  propound  so  mystical  a 
question.     But  any  one  who  has  been  accustomed  to  children 


MORNING-GLORY  BLOSSOMS  157 

of  that  age  knows  that  such  questions  are  common  with  them. 
Who  has  not  been  asked  the  most  difficult  questions  by  his  boy 
or  girl,  questions  dealing  with  the  sublime  phases  of  religion, 
questions  that  could  not  be  answered,  yet  they  are  such  that 
the  father  himself  has  asked  his  own  soul  time  and  again?" 

III.    Early  Consecration 

No  facts  are  any  more  marked  in  our  Church  life  than 
the  consecration  of  little  children.  Multitudes  of  these  have 
come  to  Jesus  in  simple  faith  and  have  been  blessed  by  a 
Religious  glowing  experience  of  conscious  spiritual  life. 
Experiences  When  Henry  Drummond  was  in  this  country  a 
of  few  years  ago  he  told  the  students  of  Amherst 

Children  College   that   it   was    in   a   children's   meeting   at 

Stirling  that  he  came  to  spiritual  consciousness  and  began 
purposefully  to  live  the  new  life  "which  is  by  the  faith  of  the 
Son  of  God,  who  loved  us  and  gave  Himself  for  us."  Judged 
even  by  the  usual  tests  for  adult  conversions,  such  childhood 
experiences  are  genuine,  nothing  being  wanting  to  assure  us 
of  their  reality.  There  is  not  the  slightest  doubt  that  there 
are  thousands  of  real  religious  experiences  in  child  life  that 
bring  the  child  to  Jesus  and  unite  him  to  the  Savior  which 
are  not  rightly  interpreted. 

For  instance,  the  conversion  of  John  Wesley  has  been  a 
mooted  question.  It  has  been  something  of  a  quiet  wonder 
that  such  an  evangelist  as  he  should  have  left  us  so  little 
in  the  way  of  definite  data  concerning  "the  day  and  the  hour 
and  the  minute"  of  his  conscious  deliverance  from  sin.  In 
the  absence  of  a  better,  many  have  taken  the  date  of  his 
experience  in  Aldersgate  Chapel  when  he  said  that  his  "heart 
was  strangely  warmed"  as  that  of  his  conversion.  But  the 
account  of  this  experience  lacks  elements  that  we  are  accus- 
tomed to  make  much  of  in  the  crisis  of  conversion,  and  the 
tendency  now  is  to  believe  that  Wesley  came  into  a  vital  spir- 
itual experience  as  a  child  in  Epworth  Rectory,  under  the 
direct  religious  tutelage  of  his  incomparable  mother,  and  that 


158       THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

the  precise  moment  of  change  he  never  knew,  if  indeed  there 
was  any  critical  moment.  His  heart  was  warmed,  doubtless, 
by  many  a  conscious  contact  with  the  Spirit  of  God  in  later 
years,  but  it  is  impossible  to  read  the  life  of  John  Wesley  and 
count  him  as  a  lost  sinner  at  any  period  of  it. 

It  is  surprising  to  some  to  look  into  the  matter  of  early 
religion  and  find  how  many  Christians  date  their  religious 
life  from  childhood,  and  how  many  can  no  more  remember 
when  they  began  to  love  God  than  when  they  began  to  love 
their  parents.  Several  years  ago  a  prominent  religious  weekly 
sent  a  questionnaire  on  this  point  to  a  large  number  of  the 
most  eminent  and  useful  ministers  of  the  gospel.  Two-thirds 
of  them  answered  that  they  had  grown  up  in  religion  and  did 
not  know  when  they  were  converted.  Polycarp  was  con- 
verted at  nine  years  of  age,  Matthew  Henry  at  eleven,  Presi- 
dent Edv/ards  at  seven.  Dr.  Watts  at  nine,  Bishop  Hall  at 
eleven,  and  Robert  Hall  at  twelve. 

We  are  aware  that  childhood  is  not  the  senior  age,  but 
have  dwelt  upon  early  religion  at  some  length  because  of 
its  bearing  upon  the  religion  of  youth.  For  it  is  impossible 
The  Religion  ^^^^  ^^  *^^  normal  ongoing  of  God's  religious 
of  Youth  plan   for  us   religion   should  be  introduced   into 

a  Devei-  childhood  to  be  withdrawn  during  the  years  of 

opment  youth,  or  during  any  later  years.    It  is  not  strange 

that  it  should  begin  with  the  life.  Anything  else  would 
require  explanation.  But  it  would  be  impossible  to  under- 
stand why  God  should  abandon  the  growng  child  just  in  the 
years  when  the  divine  care  is  most  needed,  and  leave  him 
to  be  the  prey  of  all  the  aggressive  temptations  of  the  world, 
the  flesh,  and  the  devil.  Nor  can  we  assume  any  relaxation 
of  the  fatherly  care  of  God  or  the  diminution  of  any  of  the 
spiritual  forces  that  hold  the  soul  to  righteousness  and  faith- 
fulness. This  is  also  unthinkable.  We  must  assume  the 
normal  temper  of  youth  to  be  spiritual  and  may  therefore 
hope  for  the  coming  of  the  time  when  the  spiritual  shall 
come  to  its  own  with  the  young. 

s 


MORNING-GLORY  BLOSSOMS  159 

IV.    Christian  Young  People 

We  are  not  shut  up  to  theory  here,  for  there  are  great 
numbers  of  youth  who  have  the  experience  and  live  the  life 
of  the  Christian.  There  is  nothing  more  beautiful  in  the  rich 
life  of  the  Church  than  these  bright  trophies  of  her  work. 
They  are  found  in  every  local  church  and  Sunday-school — 
clean,  active,  faithful,  and  charming.  None  are  more  de- 
voted than  they,  when  they  are  devoted;  and  none  are  more 
efficient  in  the  various  forms  of  Church  work.  They  can 
show  indisputable  evidences  of  religion,  pure  and  undefiled. 
It  is  hard  to  see  how  the  Church  could  live  without  them. 
It  begins  to  look  as  if  they  were  to  be  the  nucleus  of  a  new 
movement  that  will  carry  the  Church  into  a  larger  life  than 
she  has  ever  known.  Note  the  organization  of  the  young 
people's  societies  of  the  various  Churches  in  recent  years. 
This  movement  has  reached  an  astonishing  magnitude,  and 
it  was  not  put  upon  the  youth  by  their  elders ;  it  was  a 
spontaneous  demand  for  larger  service  and  the  experience  that 
grows  out  of  this  by  the  young  people  themselves. 

Notice  also  the  entry  of  the  young  people  into  the  various 
lines  of  churchly  activities  in  larger  numbers  than  ever  be- 
fore. They  are  not  only  active  in  their  own  organizations, 
but  they  are  doing  a  vast  deal  of  Sunday-school  work,  in- 
cluding that  of  Home  Department  and  Cradle  Roll  visitation, 
and  other  work  as  well.  They  have  turned  their  attention 
to  missions,  and  as  a  result  there  are  large  numbers  of  our 
girls  organized  into  auxiliaries  of  the  women's  missionary 
societies.  There  are  mission  study  classes  also,  where  both 
young  women  and  young  men  are  busy  gathering  the  data 
of  mission  work  in  all  lands.  The  Student  Volunteer  Move- 
ment and  the  Young  People's  Missionary  Movement  are 
two  remarkable  manifestations  of  the  religious  life  of  the 
young  people  of  our  day.  A  Student  Volunteer  convention 
has  just  been  held  at  which  3,007  delegates  were  present 
from  722  colleges  and  schools  in  forty-nine  States  and 
provinces.    Within  the  last  four  years  1,275  Volunteers  have 


i6o       THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

gone  to  the  mission  fields.  At  the  closing  session  of  this 
convention  the  names  of  sixty-one  Volunteers  were  read,  and 
it  was  stated  that  these  had  died  in  service  within  three  years. 
Following  this,  ninety-one  Volunteers  arose  and  declared  their 
intention  to  sail  soon  for  the  fields  to  which  they  have  already 
been  appointed.  Such  consecration  do  we  find  in  young 
Christians. 

V.    Religious  Endowments  of  Youth 

There  are  other  things  that  must  also  be  regarded  in  any 
fair  estimate  of  the  future  of  the  Church :  the  peculiar  re- 
ligious endowments  of  adolescents.  For  it  is  certain  that 
in  some  important  respects  it  has  pleased  God  to  show  re- 
ligious favors  in  an  unusual  degree  to  youth. 

The  young  man  has  an  ethical  vision  that  is  essentially 
new,  and  therefore  bright.  He  possesses  a  keenness  of  moral 
insight   that   he   never   had   before,   and   that   he   will   never 

.  have  again  if  he  is  unappreciative  of  it.     Right 

is  mightily  right,  and  wrong  is  tremendously 
wrong.  He  does  not  temporize  or  falter,  as  possibly  his  elders 
do.  He  recks  less  of  personal  advantage  in  settling  a  line 
of  conduct  than  do  they.  His  clear  vision  is  conducive  to 
pure  motives  and  right  actions.  It  is  a  misfortune  to  see 
too  many  things  sometimes,  for  they  prevent  us  from  seeing 
the  best  things  clearly  and  deeply.  The  moral  vision  of  youth 
is  a  divine  gift  and  essentially  a  religious  advantage. 

The  young  man  loves  the  truth.  He  loves  Christianity 
because  it  makes  its  powerful  appeal  to  truth,  and  is  drawn 
to  Jesus  Christ  because  He  was  so  outspoken  against  hypoc- 
risy and  Pharisaism  and  so  bold  in  proclaiming 
the  truth  and  defying  a  world  that  would  not 
allow  the  truth  to  interfere  with  its  selfish  interests.  There 
is  no  mistaking  the  tendency  of  Mammon  to  blind  the  eyes 
of  truth  and  to  stifle  her  inspiration.  As  men  grow  older 
it  becomes  harder  for  them  to  judge  things  with  candor, 
free  from  the  solicitation  of  their  vested  interests.    The  young 


MORNING-GLORY  BLOSSOMS  i6i 

have  few  vested  interests.  They  are  charmed  by  the  fair 
face  of  Truth  and  wish  only  to  dwell  in  her  holy  company. 

Hope  is  a  divine  gift  to  the  young.  They  have  felt  less 
of  the  harshness  of  the  world  and  the  disappointments  of 
human  life,  and  are  inclined  to  believe  in  God  and  man. 
They  are  not  occupied  in  mourning  over  the  past. 
°^^  They  do  not  believe  that  the  old  days  were  the 

best  days.  They  believe  in  progress  and  in  the  God  of 
progress,  and  therefore  look  forward  for  the  best  days.  This 
makes  them  cheerful  and  keeps  them  companionable.  They 
can  easily  illustrate  the  social  principle,  which  is  not  only 
Christian,  but  most  profoundly  Christian. 

Human  sympathy  and  affection  come  in  here.  With  the 
efflorescence  of  youth  there  comes  a  baptism  of  love  for  all 
the  world.  The  affection  that  springs  into  the  lives  of  two 
mating  souls  transfigures  the  world  to  them  and 
beams  upon  all  who  have  hearts.  Youth  loves 
naturally  and  easily.  There  is  not  space  here  to  do  justice 
to  this  master  passion.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  it  is  essentially 
religious  and  a  real  religious  asset  of  youth.  "He  that  loveth 
is  born  of  God." 

Loyalty  is  a  characteristic  of  normal  youth.  Whom  the 
young  man  chooses  he  consecrates  himself  to.  If  the  youth 
chooses  Christ  at  all,  he  is  likely  to  give  Him  his  whole 
heart  in  a  service  that  is  uncalculating  and  unre- 
^  served.     He  likes  to  act  in  this  way.     He  does 

not  enjoy  separating  and  dividing  his  allegiance.  He  has  no 
patience  with  those  who  try  to  serve  two  masters.  This 
outrages  his  sense  of  reason  and  of  right.  A  single  glance 
at  the  army  of  the  Lord  or  at  any  other  army  is  sufficient 
to  illustrate  this.  A  great-hearted  general  can  do  anything 
with  a  brigade  of  young  soldiers.  This  is  why  he  prefers 
young  soldiers  to  older  and  less  spontaneous  men.  The  most 
loyal  body  in  the  Great  Captain's  army  to-day  is  His  young 
people. 

Out  of  loyalty  springs  zeal.  Not  without  purpose  is  the 
II  s 


i62       THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

blood  of  youth  a  degree  warmer  than  that  of  the  adult.     He 
likes  to  work  hard  and  fast,  and  to  see  things  accompHshed. 
The  disposition  of  the  older  person  to  sit  in  the  chair  and 
oppose  innovations  and  reformations  is  unnatural 
^^  to  youths,  who  wish  to  arise  and  move  out  and 

march    on    and    work    with    all   their    might,  for    resuUs    as 
speedy  as  may  be. 

These  dispositions  of  youth  are  clearly  marked  and  con- 
stitute a  sort  of  special  endowment.  We  can  not  think  of 
them  as  meaningless.  The  Creator  evidently  intended  young 
people  to  be  religious  and  to  manifest  a  distinctly  motor  type 
of  religion.  Judging  from  these  qualities,  we  should  expect 
to  find  their  piety  as  pure  and  fair  as  their  faces.  Nor 
should  we  ever  forget  that  as  a  matter  of  fact  most  of  those 
who  begin  the  Christian  life  begin  it  before  the  close  of  the 
period  that  we  are  studying.  Of  all  the  Christians  now 
living  in  the  world,  but  a  comparatively  few  were  converted 
after  they  were  twenty  years  of  age. 

VI.    The  Infirmities  of  Youthful  Christians 

We  are  often  pointed  to  sundry  things  in  the  religious 
life  of  children  and  youth  that  are  inconsistent  with  a  Christly 
spirit.  There  are  sometimes  outbursts  of  temper  and  hasty 
Their  Short-  words  and  unlovely  actions,  it  is  true.  But  are 
comings  adult   Christians   free   from  these  and  all  other 

Common  to  sins  ?  Are  they  never  slothful  or  selfish  or  angry 
Christians  ^j.  worldly?  If  such  things  are  not  to  be  con- 
sidered sure  proof  of  an  unregenerate  heart  in 
the  case  of  an  adult,  how  can  they  be  so  considered  in  young 
people?  Is  it  not  true  that  these  slight  lapses  are  fewer  and 
milder  and  shorter  in  the  young  than  those  of  mature  years? 
What  did  the  apostle  mean  by  saying  to  the  Corinthians, 
"Yet  in  malice  be  ye  babes?"  Did  he  not  recognize  in  this 
the  brevity  of  an  anger  that  does  not  go  deep,  and  that  soon 
gives  place  to  the  smiles  of  love?  It  is  not  hard  to  trace 
the  stumbling  of  young  people  to  obstacles  that  they  are  not 


MORNING-GLORY  BLOSSOMS  163 

fully  familiar  with,  while  the  stumbling  of  older  Christians 
occurs  in  spite  of  many  sad  experiences  and  multiplied  warn- 
ings. Candidly,  we  find  in  the  practical  working  of  their 
religious  life  nothing  that  warrants  us  in  making  a  special 
plea  for  them  or  placing  them  below  the  standards  eetabhshed 
by  their  elders. 

VII.    Natural  Blossoms 

Our  conclusion  is  that  young  people  ought  to  be  religious 
and  can  be  religious  and  are  religious ;  that  religion  is  native 
to  youth;  that  the  Creator  wills  that  all,  including  young 
Religion  "^^"  ^"^  women,  should  be  holy ;   and  that  the 

Is  Na-  fairest  blossoms  in  the  flowering  of  adolescence 

tive  to  are  those  of  religion.     It  is  as  natural  for  them 

Vouth  ^Q  l^g  Christians  as  it  is  for  the  morning-glory 

to  open  its  lovely  blossoms  in  the  dawn  of  the  day.  And 
these  dainty  flowers  of  finely  varied  hues,  penciled  as  by  an 
angel's  hand,  are  no  unreal  symbols  of  early  piety. 

In  a  large  view  of  things,  we  can  see  something  of  the 
transformation  which  slowly  operates  to  bring  all  things  to 
the  ideals  of  nature.  What  is  natural,  in  the  true  sen«e,  is 
God's  design,  and  to  this  all  things  in  the  changing  world 
are  tending.  All  the  phenomena  of  the  spiritual  life  of  the 
young  indicate  that  the  ideal  of  Christ's  kingdom  is  early 
conversion,  and  that  all  souls  are  called  of  God  as  soon  as 
they  are  created.  In  the  ongoings  and  unfoldings  of  God's 
providence  we  may  well  expect  to  see,  by  and  by,  all  our 
young  people  taught  of  God  and  rejoicing  to  bear  the  yoke 
of  Christ  in  the  beauty  of  their  youth. 

Lesson  Outline: 

I.   The  Coming  of  the  Young. 
II.   The  Religiousness  of  Youth. 

III.  Early  Consecration. 

IV.  Christian  Young  People. 


i64       THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

V.    Religious  Endowments  of  Youth. 
VI.   The  Infirmities  of  Youthful  Christians. 
VII.    Natural  Blossoms. 

Topics  for  Special  Study: 

1.  The  essential  requirements  of  the  religious  life. 

2.  Which  is  superior,  the  adolescent  or  the  adult  type 

of  piety? 

Topics  for  Class  Discussion: 

1.  Can  young  people  be  happy  in  the  Church? 

2.  Does  Christianity  give  scope  for  the  lively  activities 

of  youth? 

3.  What  is   your   personal  judgment   of   the   piety   of 

youth  ? 

4.  What    traits    can    you    name   in    addition    to    those 

enumerated  in  the  lesson? 

5.  How  can  a  young  child  be  a  Christian? 

6.  Is  it  necessary  to  know  just  when  we  are  converted? 

7.  Why  are  so  few  older  persons  converted? 

8.  Do  young  people  stumble  more  than  older   Chris- 

tians ? 

9.  Why  do  people  get  harder  and  colder  as  they  grow 

older  ? 


CHAPTER  XII 

HOW  TO  TEACH  RELIGION  TO 
SENIORS 


CHAPTER  XII 
HOW  TO  TEACH  RELIGION  TO  SENIORS 

I.  Examining  Ourselves 

In  our  study  of  the  senior  problem  (Chapter  X)  we 
found  the  conditions  dark,  but  hopeful.  The  light  of  this 
hope  shines  from  two  directions :  the  pupils  and  the  teachers. 
The  Im-  ^^^  ^^^  ^^^^  chapter  we  found  a  hopeful  condition 

provement  of  the  first  magnitude  in  the  religious  nature 
of  the  of  the  adolescent.     If  he  were  irreligious  there 

Teacher  would  be  nothing  for  us  to  work  upon,  and  there 

consequently  would  be  no  hope.  But  he  is  strongly  religious, 
and  our  opportunity  therefore  is  great.  Then,  there  is  the 
question  of  the  teachers — ourselves :  have  we  done  our  best, 
according  to  the  best  methods,  to  preserve  the  souls  of  our 
boys  and  girls  unsullied  and  loyal  through  the  dangerous 
straits  of  adolescence?  The  encouraging  answer  to  this  ques- 
tion is  not  yes,  but  no.  For  if  we  have  done  our  best,  there 
is  nothing  to  hope  for  in  any  attempted  improvement  of 
our  methods.  And  the  correct  answer  is  no:  we  have  not 
exhausted  the  possibilities  of  scientific  spiritual  culture  with 
our  young  people.  It  becomes  another  consideration  of  the 
first  magnitude  how  we  shall  so  work  in  the  future  as  to 
succeed  where  we  have  failed  in  the  past. 

II.  The  Shortcomings  of  the  Past 

There  is  no  straighter  way  to  what  we  seek  than  via  the 
consideration  of  our  past  shortcomings  or  failures  or  mis- 
takes, whatever  they  may  be.  They  are  not  hard  to  find. 
The  scientific  study  of  youth  is  a  new  thing  in  the  world. 
Man  busied  himself  for  many  thousands  of  years  before  he 
turned  his  attention  to  this  immensely  important  matter.     Of 

167  8 


i68       THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

the  fruitful  results  of  this  study  we  have  hitherto  been  de- 
prived, of  course.  All  our  work  thus  far  has  been  done 
without  the  aid  of  this  new  science.  We  have  been  under 
The  the   unspeakable   disadvantage   of  working  upon 

Reason  of  souls  that  we  did  not  understand,  and  as  an 
Failure  inevitable  consequence  our  judgments  have  some- 

times been  erroneous,  our  sympathies  stifled,  and,  sometimes, 
our  anger  roused.  The  things  that  separate  souls  have  acted 
in  their  invariable  way  and  our  pupils  have  been  pushed  out 
of  our  reach.  Then  we  have  failed  to  understand  our  own 
religion  and  its  Founder.  We  have  narrowed  and  sometimes 
embittered  it  in  offering  it  to  our  youth.  We  have  taken  the 
bread  of  life  from  the  hands  of  Jesus  and  have  pounded  and 
peppered  it  before  handing  it  to  those  we  loved  best.  Some 
day  the  why  of  this  will  be  the  wonder  of  the  religious 
world.  Again,  we  have  given  the  eager  minds  and  the  out- 
stretched hands  of  our  young  people  nothing  to  do  in  the 
Church.  We  seem  to  have  expected  them  to  grow  up  in 
spiritual  health  without  spiritual  exercise.  We  have  made 
the  Church  a  prison  and  shut  them  up  in  it.  In  recent  years 
these  conditions  have  begun  to  be  improved,  but  in  general 
they  remain  about  as  they  have  been  through  the  centuries 

III.    How  to  Improve  Our  Work 

The  question  before  us  now  is,  how  to  improve  our  work  so 
as  to  win  our  pupils.    A  few  major  principles  we  may  study: 

I.  Establish  confidence.  The  demand  for  absolute  con> 
fidence  between  teacher  and  pupils  is  nowhere  greater  than 
here.  We  should  believe  in  them:  their  nature  and  desires 
and  possibilities ;  and  they  should  believe  in  us : 
Fellowship  ^^  °"^  knowledge,  our  wisdom,  and  our  sympathy. 
We  should  meet  them  on  their  own  level.  They 
are  no  longer  children,  and  they  feel  older  and  wiser  than 
they  are.  They  are  not  disposed  to  look  up,  and  we  must 
be  disposed  to  look  down.  It  is  now  time  for  schoolmasterish 
airs  to  evaporate.    They  are  usually  offensive,  anyway.    The 


HOW  TO  TEACH  RELIGION  TO  SENIORS      169 

teacher  may  now  be  more  of  a  companion  to  the  pupil  than 
a  master.  He  should  so  absorb  and  assimilate  this  principle 
that  it  will  color  him  through  and  through.  Even  his  tones 
and  accents  and  modulations  will  reveal  him  as  a  helper 
rather  than  as  a  driver.  Every  cheerful  word  and  every 
bright  glance  will  be  his  testimony  to  his  pupils  that  he 
recognizes  them  as  members  of  our  Father's  family,  waiting 
and  willing  in  the  presence  of  the  Bread  of  Life. 

Let  it  not  be  thought  that  this  is  a  slight  advantage. 
One  of  the  best  teachers  that  ever  taught — Arnold,  of  Rugby — 
in  his  recent  day,  said  this  in  a  letter  written  after  his  ap- 
pointment:  "My  object  will  be,  if  possible,  to  form  Christian 
men;  for  Christian  boys  I  can  scarcely  hope  to  make.  I 
mean  that  from  the  naturally  imperfect  state  of  boyhood 
they  are  not  susceptible  of  Christian  principles  in  their  full 
development  upon  their  practice,  and  I  suspect  that  a  low 
standard  of  morality  in  many  respects  must  be  tolerated 
amongst  them,  as  it  was  on  a  larger  scale  in  what  I  con- 
sider the  boyhood  of  the  race."  Yet  it  should  be  said  that 
this  illustrious  schoolmaster  lived  to  change  his  views. 

This  recognition  of  genuine  spiritual  values  will  make  it 
easy  for  us  to  converse  freely  with  our  pupils,  to  become 
intimately  acquainted  with  them,  and  to  be  promoted  by  them 
to  the  high  place  of  a  friend.  Thus  the  teacher's  influence 
will  be  extended  beyond  Sunday.  The  pupil  will  have  a 
teacher  and  a  friend  every  day  in  the  week.  Let  us  hear 
Bishop  Vincent  on  this :  "The  sharp  line  drawn  between 
educational  processes  and  ordinary  every-day  life  is  most  un- 
fortunate. The  limiting  of  intellectual  activity  and  its  best 
fruits  to  institutions  and  libraries  and  formal  curricula  and 
class  drills  leaves  out  the  larger  field  of  opportunity,  worth 
as  much  as  these,  and  without  which  these  lose  a  large  share 
of  their  value.  It  is  like  that  other  perversion  which  limits 
religion  to  the  Church."  Only  through  such  channels  of 
intimacy  does  the  warm  stream  of  religious  influence  flow 
from  teacher  to  pupil. 

? 


170       THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

2.  Avoid  the  use  of  force.  It  is  of  no  use  in  this 
grade.  Anything  like  an  attempt  at  coercion  is  usually  fatal. 
One  of  the  first  traits  of  the  adolescent  we  have  learned  to 
be  independence.  He  may  overwork  this,  but 
Abjure  Q^^  g^y^  -^^  ^.q  ^[^^     Whatever  force  may  have 

Authority  done  in  earlier  years,  it  can  do  nothing  but  mis- 
chief now.  It  is  true  that  human  nature  lusts 
for  power,  and  that  most  oi  us  know  what  it  is  to  long  to 
lord  it  over  somebody.  But  this  is  one  of  the  things  the 
Christian  has  subdued  and  crucified,  for  it  can  not  stay  where 
Christ  is.  In  order  to  teach  a  young  man  you  must  get  him 
to  your  side,  and  a  club  is  not  a  good  invitation. 

A  long  time  ago  a  student  went  to  his  pastor  with  a 
question  upon  a  scientific  point  which  he  thought  to  be  in 
conflict  with  the  Bible.  Instead  of  a  kindly  explanation,  he 
received  this  answer :  "You  need  to  have  a  piece  of  tan- 
bark  broken  over  your  head."  It  is  not  surprising  that  this 
minister  was  not  asked  again  to  instruct  this  inquisitive 
young  mind,  nor  that  the  young  man  concluded  at  once  that 
the  minister  did  not  really  believe  in  the  truth  of  the  Bible 
himself.  He  went  on  through  the  university,  and  then  settled 
down  in  the  same  city  where  he  was  a  Church  member  when 
he  sought  his  pastor's  help.  But  he  turned  away  from  the 
Church,  of  course,  and  he  used  his  influence-  against  the 
Church.  Further,  he  opposed  Christian  ministers  and  held 
them  up  to  derision.  He  devoted  years  to  leading  young 
men  into  infidelity  in  the  same  town  where  he  received  that 
insulting  blow.  We  may  blame  him,  but  can  we  wonder  at 
him? 

There  is  an  authority  to  which  all,  young  and  old,  are 
subject.  But  it  is  not  in  our  hands,  nor  in  anybody's  hands. 
When  Peter  got  the  keys  of  the  kingdom,  he  received  no 
authority  to  turn  them  over  to  anybody  else.  We  believe 
in  the  universal  priesthood  of  believers,  by  which  every  soul 
may  go  directly  to  God,  and  with  this  goes  the  "freedom 
for  which  Christ  set  us  free."     We  call  no  man  master,  for 


HOW  TO  TEACH  RELIGION  TO  SENIORS      171 

One  is  our  Master,  even  Christ.  All  authority  over  souls 
belongs  to  Him,  in  spite  of  the  pretensions  of  Churches  and 
popes  and  priests  and  all  others.  Therefore  this  authority- 
lies  within  His  truth.  It  is  an  internal  authority  which 
compels  by  moral  force.  In  the  words  of  Dr.  W.  L.  Hervey : 
"Let  us  here  distinguish  between  two  things  radically  dif- 
ferent. For  there  is  an  authority  that  works  from  without 
and  there  is  an  authority  that  works  from  within;  and  the 
working  of  these  is  vitally  different,  each  from  the  other. 
External  authority  says,  'You  must  believe  because  I  say  so, 
or  because  the  Book  says  so.'  Its  attitude  is  one  of  com- 
pulsion from  without.  The  voice  of  authority  that  speaks 
from  within  says,  T  must  believe  because  I  can  not  do  other- 
wise— because  this  is  the  truth,  and  I  know  it.'  External 
authority  says.  This  is  true  because  it  is  the  Bible.'  Internal 
authority  says.  This  is  the  Bible  because  it  is  true.'"  If 
the  teacher  abjures  all  divine  prerogatives  himself  and  brings 
the  power  of  the  truth  to  bear  upon  his  pupils,  he  will  see 
what  real  authority  is.  He  will  realize  that  he  possesses 
no  coercive  power,  and  that  he  needs  none. 

3.  Avoid  dogmatism.  There  is  a  new  birth  of  intellect 
within  the  adolescent,  and  he  delights  to  try  everything  by 
intellectual  processes.  He  will  be  glad  to  learn  our  system 
Trust  in  the  °^  t^^th.  because  all  truth  fascinates  him.  But 
Inherent  we  must   do  more  than  call  our   religion  true: 

Power  we  must  treat  it  like  truth  and  show  it  to  be 

of  Truth  truth.     It  is  said  of  Martin  Luther  that  he  once 

hurled  a  dogma  at  his  congregation  with  the  words,  "I  shall 
prove  this  doctrine  so  unanswerably  that  any  one  of  you 
who  does  not  believe  it  will  be  damned."  The  entire  "believe- 
or-be-damned"  system  is  discredited,  as  it  ought  to  be.  Its 
natural  expression  is  the  torture  of  the  Inquisition,  not  the 
beautiful  beatitudes  of  the  Master.  It  is  as  needless  as  is 
force.  To  show  the  truth  is  sufficient.  It  does  not  have 
to  be  pounded  into  an  eager  mind  with  a  club,  and  when 
the  club  is  brought  out  that  same  mind  quickly  infers  that 


172        THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

what  Is  offered  is  not  the  truth.  With  dogmatism  goes  the 
dogmatic  style.  This  is  not  helpful  to  the  teacher  of  young 
people.  It  may  be  questioned  whether  it  has  any  value  any- 
where nowadays.  The  "bow-wow"  style  of  teaching  has  given 
place  to  something  quieter  and  more  courteous  and  more 
convincing  among  intelligent  people. 

4.  Avoid  gush  and  cant.  These  are  subtle  foes  which 
may  influence  us  though  we  are  unaware  of  them.  Young 
people  are  peculiarly  susceptible  to  frankness.  They  respond 
gg  readily  to  the  candid  approach.     It  is  a  specifica- 

Absolutely  tion  of  their  endowment  of  transparent  sincerity. 
Honest  and  There  is  a  lying  element  in  gush  and  cant  that 
Sincere  outrages  their  sense  of  honesty.     Their  warmth 

of  heart  may  impel  them  to  social  exchanges  that  perhaps 
sound  to  us  like  gush,  but  religious  gush  is  a  totally  dif- 
ferent thing.  Simpering  saints  and  tearful  teachers  do  not 
get  on  well  with  matter-of-fact  youth.  A  prominent  evan- 
gelist has  a  posed  picture  in  a  Church  paper,  with  a  sermon 
which  contains  this:  "If  all  the  mathematicians  of  the  past 
agreed  that  two  times  two  always  make  four,  and  I  found 
where  the  Savior  said  they  made  five,  I  would  say  in  my 
heart  that  some  day  it  would  be  found  that  Jesus  was  right." 
The  average  young  man  would  say  in  his  heart  that  this 
evangelist  does  not  know  what  truth  is. 

The  cant  that  is  really  responsible  for  a  good  deal  of 
the  ridicule  that  young  folks  indulge  in  at  the  expense  of 
the  Bible  and  the  Church  is  illustrated  in  the  story  of  the 
boy  who  read  in  his  Testament  that  Peter  went  up  on  the 
housetop  to  pray.  This  boy  was  familiar  with  steep  roofs, 
and  no  others.  So  he  went  to  his  teacher  v/ith  a  skeptical 
question  of  how  Peter  could  climb  up  a  steep  roof  or  why 
he  would  sit  astride  the  ridgepole  to  say  his  prayers.  The 
teacher  sternly  said,  "You  should  not  cavil  at  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures." He  went  to  the  superintendent  with  the  matter,  and 
that  worthy  brother,  who  also  was  unfamiliar  with  Oriental 
house-roofs,   said :     "You   did   not   answer  him   right.     You 

3 


HOW  TO  TEACH  RELIGION  TO  SENIORS        173 

should  have  told  him  that  with  men  this  would  indeed  be 
impossible,  but  with  God  all  things  are  possible."  It  is  never 
safe  to  pretend  to  understand  the  Bible  when  we  do  not, 
nor  to  demand  belief  without  an  intelligent  basis  for  belief; 
nor  to  take  refuge  from  an  inquiring  mind  in  pious  platitudes 
or  any  other  insincerity.  You  can  not  make  a  healthy  young 
rflind  believe  that  "the  harder  a  text  is  to  beheve  the  more 
merit  there  is  in  believing  it,"  or  that  "faith  is  beHeving 
something  that  you  know  is  not  so." 

IV.    Some  Fundamental  Matters 

1,  Religion  and  truth.  One  of  the  first  things  for  us 
to  do  is  to  establish  the  proposition  tkat  our  religion  is  true 
and  that  it  fears  no  truth  in  any  domain.     It  is  true  in  the 

ordinary  sense  of  truth.  There  is  no  special 
°"^  kind  of  truth  for  religious  uses.     What  we  ask 

is^True"  °^^  young  people  to  believe  is  really  so,  just  as 

the  mathematics  and  physics  that  they  learn  in 
school  are  really  so.  There  is  no  merit  in  calling  a  false  thing 
or  a  false  man  true  because  he  or  it  belongs  to  the  Church. 
There  is  no  bridge  of  sighs  leading  to  the  portals  of  the  Church 
inscribed,  "Abandon  truth,  all  ye  who  enter  here."  Rather 
let  the  young  man  see  that  He  who  says,  "I  am  the  Door" 
declares  also,  "I  am  the  Way,  the  Truth,  and  the  Life." 

2.  Religion  and  character.  No  summing  up  of  religion 
that  excludes  character,  or  allows  character  in  any  way  to 
be  excluded,  will  prove  valuable  with  young  people.     No  real 

necessity  ever  arises  or  can  arise  for  disparaging 
to°be  Valued    righteousness    or    morality    (which    is    the    same 

thing).  No  Christian  profession  or  ecclesiastical 
honors  can  exempt  any  man  from  the  operation  of  the 
moral  law.  "Salvation  by  faith"  does  not  imply  the  dis- 
regard of  goodness  in  men,  and  no  man  need  feel  any  fear 
of  getting  into  bad  company  in  heaven. 

This  topic  and  the  following  will  receive  additional  atten- 
tion later. 

3 


174       THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

3.  The  one  consecration.  This  is  to  the  service  of 
men.  It  is  comprehensive,  being  the  reflection  of  that  of  the 
Master.     It  is  this  that  is  saving  the  world,  and  it  is  this 

that  is  saving  those  who  are  doing  it.  Why  do 
Service^  ^°  many  Christians  backslide?     Because  they  do 

not  work  for  God.  Salvation  is  not  by  any 
means  a  momentary  thing.  Forgiveness  of  sin  is  not  salva- 
tion, any  more  than  birth  is  the  whole  lifetime.  Our  salva- 
tion is  something  that  must  be  worked  out  through  years 
of  faithful  service.  The  doctrine,  "Once  in  grace,  always  in 
grace,"  is  abhorrent.  Never  allow  the  young  to  believe  that 
the  divine  forgiveness  of  their  sins  is  a  fire  insurance  for 
their  souls.  They  should  be  taught  the  reality  and  the  neces- 
sity of  the  religious  life,  and  inspired  to  live  it. 

4.  The  one  truth.  In  studying  the  teachings  of  Jesus 
Christ,  we  find  that  they  circle  around  one  great,  compre- 
hensive truth — that  God  is  our  Father.     All  other  truths  of 

theology  live  by  this  and  are  in  harmony  with 
Our  Father      ^^*     ^^"'  forgiveness,  punishment,  suffering,  sanc- 

tification,  providence,  prayer,  eternal  life,  and  all 
the  rest  are  to  be  interpreted  in  the  light  of  the  Fatherhood 
of  God.  In  our  work  with  seniors  we  should  declare  this, 
and  return  to  it,  and  illuminate  it,  and  explain  by  it.  It  meets 
the  highest  and  most  mysterious  longings  of  youth.  It  is 
precisely  the  food  that  his  soul  most  hungers  for. 

The  first  great  aim  of  the  teacher  should  be  to  win  the 
pupils  to  God,  if  they  have  not  already  given  their  hearts 
to  Him.  It  will  be  easy  to  do  this  if  he  declares  Christ's 
gospel  of  a  living  and  loving  Father,  waiting  to  be  gracious 
and  longing  for  His  straying  children  to  return  to  Him.  A 
thoughtful  girl  of  sixteen  years,  living  in  the  country  at  a 
distance  from  the  church,  which  made  her  attendance  irreg- 
ular, read  one  Sunday  the  memoir  of  a  Christian  woman. 
On  closing  the  volume  she  said,  "That  was  a  beautiful  life." 
And  after  a  little  thought,  she  added,  "And  I  should  like  to 
live  such  a  life."    A  few  minutes  later  she  kneeled  down  and 


HOW  TO  TEACH  RELIGION  TO  SENIORS       175 

said,  "Lord,  I  will  try  from  this  time."  The  decision  was 
made.  She  went  on  steadily,  and  is  now  a  useful  and  influ- 
ential Christian  woman,  honored  and  beloved,  and  widely 
known  for  her  beautiful  and  devoted  character.  This  inci- 
dent, related  by  Dr.  Hallock,  shows  how  near  God  is  and  how 
easily  the  young  may  find  Him. 

But  conversion  is  not  the  only  aim.  The  new-born  Chris- 
tian life  must  be  nourished  and  directed.  The  teacher's 
ceaseless  work  is  right  here.  The  teaching  of  religion  is 
essential  to  the  spiritual  growth  of  our  pupils. 

5.  The  dual  principle.  Certain  of  our  great  teachers, 
such  as  Bushnell  and  Gladden  and  King,  have  told  us  that 
the  Christian  faith  is  well  summed  up  in  a  single  word, 
"Friendship,"  which  they  interpret  as  love  to  God 
"^^^  and  love  to  man.     Dr.  Trumbull  calls  friendship 

of^Frlwidship  "^^^  master  passion,"  and  love  is  its  vital  prin- 
ciple. Jesus  tells  us  that  love  to  God  and  to 
man  are  the  two  great  commandments  upon  which  all  the 
law  and  the  prophets  hang.  Dr.  King  says :  "The  New 
Testament  everywhere  conceives  the  relation  in  which  the 
disciple  stands  to  God  as  an  individual,  intimate,  constant, 
and  unobtrusive  personal  relation  of  the  Spirit  of  God  to 
man's  spirit.  Others  figures  of  speech  are  used  in  setting 
forth  this  relation;  but  the  dominant  conception  throughout 
the  New  Testament  is  personal.  We  have  a  clear  right, 
therefore,  to  affirm  that  from  the  point  of  view  of  Christ's 
own  teaching  and  of  the  New  Testament  generally,  the  Chris- 
tian life  is  to  be  conceived  as  a  personal  relation  of  friendship, 
with  God  on  the  one  hand  and  our  fellow-men  on  the  other. 
When,  then,  you  are  trying  to  bring  your  pupils  into  the 
Christian  life,  you  are  seeking  to  introduce  them  into  a  life 
even  so  simple  as  this.  You  are  only  trying  to  persuade  them 
to  be  good  friends  of  the  Heavenly  Father,  true  brothers 
one  of  another." 

The  greatest  of  the  Hebrew  patriarchs  was  called  "the 
friend  of  God."      Jesus  said  to  His  disciples,  "I  have  called 


176       THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

you  friends."  In  the  clear  light  of  this  familiar  human  rela- 
tion the  teacher  may  effectually  display  at  once  the  simplicity 
and  the  depth  of  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ  to  his  pupils. 
He  may  exhibit  the  Almighty  to  them  as  One  interested  in 
all  their  pleasures,  attentive  to  all  their  needs,  patient  with 
their  ignorance,  tender  in  his  treatment  of  their  doubts,  com- 
forting them  in  their  troubles,  inspiring  them  with  holy  ideals 
and  guiding  them  ever  in  their  pursuit.  He  stands  revealed 
in  Jesus  Christ,  from  whose  hand  they  may  take  the  bread 
of  life,  and  who  will  reveal  to  them  continually  new  wonders 
of  the  Divine  friendship. 

Lesson  Outline: 

I.  Examining  Ourselves. 

II.   The  Shortcomings  of  the  Past. 
TIL    How  TO  Improve  Our  Work. 
IV.    Some  Fundamental  Matters. 

Topics  for  Special  Study: 

1.  Religion  as  a  subject  for  instruction. 

2.  The  problem  of  authority. 

Topics  for  Class  Discussion: 

1.  Have  we  always  taught  religion  in  the  best  way? 

2.  The  value  of  the  new  knowledge  of  childhood  and 

youth. 

3.  The  basis  of  confidential  relations  between  teacher 

and  pupil. 

4.  The  use  of  authority  in  teaching. 

5.  What  is  there  wrong  in  the  dogmatic  style  of  teach- 

ing? 

6.  The  mischief  of  cant. 

7.  Is  there  any  truth  that  the  youth  needs  to  be  warned 

against? 

8.  The  need  of  emphasis  upon  morality. 

9.  Growth  through  service. 

10.    The  fundamental  truth  of  the  Fatherhood  of  God. 

II.  Religion  in  the  light  of  friendship. 

8 


CHAPTER  XIII 

THE  TEACHINCx  OF  MORALS 

AND  MANNERS 


12 


CHAPTER  XIII 
THE  TEACHING  OF  MORALS  AND  MANNERS 

I.    The  Same  Subject  Continued 

The  title  of  this  chapter  does  not  displace  religion.  If 
"conduct  is  three-fourths  of  life,"  religion  must  either  em- 
brace conduct  or  be  shut  out  of  the  most  of  life.  Where 
The  ^^^  °"^  draw  the  line  between  morals  and  re- 

Relation  ligion?    For  our  purposes  the  two  are  one.    The 

Between  teacher    aims    at    both    in    his    work,    and    often 

Religion  teaches    both    with    the    same    word.      Nor    can 

morals  be  sharply  separated  from  manners.  Re- 
ligion as  we  understand  it  is  so  broad  as  to  include  the  moral 
and  social  life,  with  all  their  normal  expression. 

There  are  other  conceptions  of  religion.  There  is  the 
ritualistic,  for  instance.  Among  the  Jews  the  rabbis  taught 
that  at  the  close  of  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles  a  procession, 
led  by  the  priests,  should  move  from  the  Pool  of  Siloam  to 
the  Temple,  and  there  pour  water  from  the  Pool  upon  the 
altar.  It  was  a  long  dispute  between  the  schools  whether 
the  water  should  be  poured  in  a  funnel  at  the  top  of  the 
altar  or  at  the  base.  One  high  priest  ventured  to  pour  it  in 
at  the  base,  and  had  by  this  act  brought  on  a  riot  in  which 
six  thousand  people  perished.  If  this  is  religion,  morals  are 
certainly  another  thing. 

There  are  certain  emphases  that  alter  the  real  content 
of  religion.  Dr.  Dillon  Bronson  writes:  "I  wish  we  realized 
that  death  is  not  to  be  eternally  preached  about.  At  revivals 
and  camp-meetings  we  hear  quite  too  much  of  it.  What 
is  the  use?  Let  the  dead  rest.  Phillips  Brooks  used  to  say, 
'We  have  no  more  to  do  with  dying  than  being  born.'    Living 

179  s 


i8o       THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

is  the  great  responsibility.  Death  is  only  an  incident,  and 
there  are  multitudes  of  heathen  who  do  not  fear  to  die. 
During  the  war  with  Russia  thousands  of  aged  Japanese  wept 
immoderately  because  they  were  not  allowed  to  shed  their 
blood  for  Nippon.  I  am  sure  that  thousands  of  Chinese 
would  commit  suicide  for  $5  each.  This  is  timely.  If  we  live 
well  we  shall  die  well.  The  religion  that  makes  a  man's 
life  a  success  may  be  trusted  with  his  death  without  a  word. 
The  Master  looked  at  it  in  this  way.  He  was  always  preach- 
ing the  rehgion  of  a  pure  life  and  of  good  deeds.  Religion 
with  Him  was  neither  a  ritual  nor  a  prospect  of  death.  He 
said,  "If  ye  love  Me  keep  My  commandments,"  which  de- 
notes a  religion  of  moral  activities. 

Then,  we  should  give  morals  due  attention  because  the 
overwhelming  problems  of  our  day  are  moral  problems.  Not 
long  ago  President  David  Starr  Jordan  declared  that  "the 
energy  of  one-third  of  the  young  men  of  this  country  is 
wasted  and  the  benefit  they  might  be  to  the  nation  is  lost 
because  of  their  habits.  I  am  perfectly  sincere,"  said  he,  "and 
do  not  believe  that  my  statement  is  in  any  danger  of  being 
contradicted  when  I  say  that,  roughly  approximated,  one- 
third  of  the  young  men  of  this  country  are  wasting  them- 
selves through  intemperate  habits  and  the  accompanying  vices. 
They  are  not  only  rendering  themselves  valueless  during  their 
life,  but  they  are  shortening  that  life."  This  is  but  a  single 
reference  to  the  most  serious  problem  that  the  Sunday-school 
teacher  has  to  solve. 

II.    The  Moral  Life 

Morals  and  manners  are  the  blossoms  and  the  fruitage 
of  the  tree  of  religion.  That  is,  religion  is  the  vital  principle 
which,  like  the  sap  of  the  tree,  exists  not  for  itself,  but  to 
grow  the  foliage  and  the  fruits  of  character.  Religion  is 
naught  without  consecration,  and  this  impels  to  the  moral 
life.  Without  consecration  there  is  only  selfishness,  which  is 
stark   immorality.      Ruskin    describes    these   two    lives    thus : 


TEACHING  OF  MORALS  AND  MANNERS       i8i 

"Men's  proper  business  in  this  world  falls  properly  into  three 
divisions :  First,  to  know  themselves  and  the  existing  state 
Religion  °^  things  they  have  to  do  with.     Secondly,  to  be 

Bears  Fruit  happy  in  themselves  and  the  existing  state  of 
in  Moral  things.      Thirdly,    to    mend    themselves    and    the 

Character  existing  state  of  things,  as  far  as  either  is  marred 
cr  mendable.  These,  I  say,  are  the  three  plain  divisions  of 
proper  human  business  on  this  earth.  For  these  three  the  fol- 
lowing are  usually  substituted  and  adopted  by  human  crea- 
tures :  First,  to  be  ignorant  of  themselves  and  the  existing 
state  of  things.  Secondly,  to  be  miserable  in  themselves  and 
in  the  existing  state  of  things.  Thirdly,  to  let  themselves 
and  the  existing  state  of  things  alone  (at  least  in  the  way 
of  correction)." 

It  is  highly  erroneous  and  dangerous  to  slur  morality  in 
any  interest.  "Mere  morality"  is  one  of  those  mischievous 
expressions  which  mistaken  men  have  used  to  exalt  religion. 
This  is  always  unnecessary.  Some  one  said  :  "Mere  morality ! 
You  might  as  well  say,  mere  God."  Morality  is  righteous- 
ness ;  it  is  purity,  holiness,  activity,  consecration.  It  is  good- 
ness, for  it  is  the  keeping  of  God's  commandments.  It  makes 
character — the  character  that  renders  us  fit  for  heaven.  So 
far  from  being  a  rival  of  religion,  it  is  religion's  nearest 
kin,  so  near  as  to  be  a  part  of  herself.  It  is  the  evidence, 
the  flowering,  the  beauty  of  religion.  There  can  be  no  char- 
acter without  the  moral  life;  which  is  only  saying  that  a  man 
must  be  good  to  have  goodness.  It  is  a  relic  of  pagan 
theology  that  a  sinner's  repentance  and  faith  can  avail  to 
blot  out  the  past  and  change  facts  and  memories  and  furnish 
him  instantaneously  with  a  complete  outfit  of  the  moral 
virtues.  The  divine  forgiveness  never  promises  that.  The 
virtues  grow  out  of  the  personal  will,  exercised  through  a 
long  series  of  human  experiences.  He  only  is  moral 
who  chooses  the  right  in  the  conflict  with  wrong,  religion 
aiding  him  by  pouring  upon  his  fire  the  oil  of  the  grace 
of  God. 

3 


i82       THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

III.    Manners 

We  talk  of  kindliness,  of  courtesy,  of  the  personal  charm, 
and  call  this  rare  quality  manners,  or  something  else;  but 
as  has  been  intimated,  it  is  not  to  be  strongly  distinguished 
^j^g  from  morals.     The  gentleman  is  the  opposite  of 

Christian  the  rascal,  yet  he  is  named  from  gentleness,  which 
is  God's  is   a   manners'   word.     We   all   admire  manners 

Gentleman  ^^^  yield  to  their  charm.  Emerson  says  that 
"a  beautiful  form  is  better  than  a  beautiful  face;  a  beautiful 
behavior  is  better  than  a  beautiful  form;  it  gives  higher 
pleasure  than  statues  or  pictures;  it  is  the  finest  of  the  fine 
arts.  A  man  is  but  a  little  thing  in  the  midst  of  the  objects 
of  nature ;  yet,  by  the  moral  quality  radiating  from  his  counte- 
nance, he  may  abolish  all  considerations  of  magnitude,  and 
in  his  manners  equal  the  majesty  of  the  world."  Literature 
is  full  of  this  charm:  without  it  there  could  scarcely  be  any 
literature  except  the  mechanical  and  the  prosy. 

Recall  Hawthorne's  "Phoebe."  She  was  like  a  ray  of  sun- 
light in  the  forlorn  lives  of  Clifford  and  Hepzibah.  She  came 
where  she  was  not  wanted,  was  told  to  go  away,  but  stayed 
because  she  was  indispensable.  She  transfigured  the  lives 
of  the  two  old  sufferers  and  fascinated  everybody.  "She 
shocked  no  canon  of  taste ;  she  was  admirably  in  keeping  with 
herself,  and  never  jarred  against  surrounding  circumstances. 
There  was  both  luster  and  depth  in  her  eyes.  She  was  very 
pretty,  as  graceful  as  a  bird,  and  graceful  in  much  the  same 
way;  as  pleasant  about  the  house  as  a  gleam  of  sunshine 
falling  on  the  floor  through  a  shadow  of  twinkling  leaves, 
or  as  a  ray  of  firelight  that  dances  on  the  wall  while  evening 
is  drawing  near."  "Now  Phoebe's  presence  made  a  home 
about  her — that  very  sphere  which  the  outcast,  the  prisoner, 
the  potentate — the  wretch  beneath  mankind,  the  wretch  aside 
from  it,  or  the  wretch  above  it — instinctively  pines  after — a 
home!  She  was  real !  Holding  her  hand,  you  felt  something; 
a  tender  something ;  a  substance,  and  a  warm  one ;  and  so 
long  as  you   feel   its  grasp,   soft   as   it  was,  you   might   be 

3 


TEACHING  OF  MORALS  AND  MANNERS       183 

certain  that  your  place  was  good  in  the  whole  sympathetic 
chain  of  human  nature.  The  world  was  no  longer  a  delu- 
sion." Hawthorne  here  makes  "manners"  not  only  religious, 
but  evangelistic  and  sacramental.  Phoebe  is  an  ideal  imper- 
sonation of  the  Christlike  soul. 

IV.    Can  These  Things  Be  Taught? 

There  are  those  who  regard  good  morals  and  winsome 
manners  as  a  rare  personal  endowment,  but  no  more  to 
be  had  by  any  other  means  than  complexion  or  stature. 
But  the  germs  of  these  qualities  exist  in  all.  They  are  a 
part  of  the  universal  endowment,  and  the  right  kind  of 
culture  will  enable  them  to  develop.  The  right  kind  is  not 
the  violent  kind,  of  course. 

Bud,  four  years  old,  and  his  older  sister,  Ethel,  were  play- 
ing together.  When  a  plaything  was  needed,  Ethel  said, 
"Bud,  you  go  down-stairs  and  get  it."  The  young  man  hesi- 
tated and  looked  as  if  he  were  thinking,  "You  might  have 
said  please."  "But  Bud,  you  must.  I  am  the  mother,  and 
I  am  the  oldest."  The  little  chap  straightened  himself  up, 
stamped  his  small  foot,  and  said,  "Well,  Ethel,  if  I  must, 
/  won't."  This  principle  of  our  common  nature  the  teacher 
of  morals  will  never  lose  sight  of. 

More  can  be  done  here  by  indirection  than  by  direct  and 
avowed  methods.  We  might  say  to  a  lively  group  of  seniors, 
"Come  here  and  we  will  teach  you  to  behave  yourselves,"  but 
can  we  imagine  them  coming  on  such  a  call?  As  to  the  possi- 
bilities, in  general,  of  overcoming  the  disadvantages  of  birth 
and  early  neglect  by  appealing  to  this  latent  goodness,  we  may 
notice  the  successful  work  being  done  in  settlements  and  mis- 
sions everywhere.  An  instance  would  be  a  report  of  the  free 
kindergarten  of  San  Francisco,  where,  of  nine  thousand  chil- 
dren taken  from  the  criminal  and  poverty-stricken  quarters 
of  the  city  and  cared  for  by  the  Golden  Gate  Association, 
"but  one  was  found  to  have  been  arrested,  after  careful 
inquiry  and  years  of  watchfulness  over  police  court,  prison, 

3 


i84        THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

and  house  of  refuge  records."  We  are  not  to  expect  as 
much  plasticity  in  seniors  as  they  found  in  httle  children, 
but  neither  are  we  expecting  to  begin  this  work  with  the 
seniors.  What  we  are  to  note  is,  that  the  senior  is  still  in 
the  plastic   stage,  and  hence  a  proper  subject  of  cur   skill. 

I.  Use  the  Bible.  This  is  common,  but  not  common- 
place. The  Bible  is  the  great  text-book  of  morals  and  man- 
ners, apart  from  all  considerations  of  its  origin  and  religious 
uses.  Its  precepts  shine  down  the  ages  with  the 
Value  of  steady  light  of  stars.     They  have  not  been  dis- 

to  the  End  ttirbed  a  jot  in  the  midst  of  the  ongoings  of  all 
things  else.  They  are  pure,  lofty,  serene,  and 
compelling.  The  men  and  women  of  the  Bible  are  unique 
as  teaching  subjects  because  of  their  clearness,  their  repre- 
sentative characters,  and  the  moral  coloring  of  their  por- 
traiture. The  songs  and  exhortations  and  prayers  of  the 
Bible  are  precious  for  the  building  and  refinement  of  per- 
sonal character. 

Charles  A.  Dana,  the  distinguished  editor  of  the  New  York 
Sun,  was  addressing  the  students  of  Union  College  a  few 
years  ago  on  the  profession  of  journalism.  He  said :  "Al- 
most all  books  are  useful,  a  few  are  indispensable;  of  all 
these  the  Bible  is  the  most  useful,  the  most  effective,  the 
most  indispensable.  And  I  am  considering  it  now,  not  as 
a  religious  Book,  but  as  a  manual  of  utility  or  professional 
preparation  and  professional  use  for  a  journalist."  At  an- 
other time  he  was  asked  what  single  book  he  would  recom- 
mend for  study  to  a  young  man  who  was  just  starting  out 
ki  a  business  life.  He  answered  that  he  knew  of  no  single 
book  as  good  for  such  use  as  the  Book  of  Proverbs. 

There  are  some  people  left  who  do  not  like  the  idea  of 
using  the  Bible  as  a  text-book:  it  is  too  high  and  holy  for 
this,  and  should  not  be  handled  as  familiarly  as  this  use 
implies.  It  should  not  be  kept  on  the  shelf  with  other  books. 
It  should  be  read  on  Sundays  and  religious  occasions,  and 
in  a  holy  tone.     It  should  be  expounded  by  the  clergy,  ac- 


TEACHING  OF  MORALS  AND  MANNERS      185 

cording  to  rules  of  interpretation  made  exclusively  for  itself, 
"This  mode  of  isolation,"  says  Dr.  W.  L.  Hervey,  "has  borne 
its  proper  fruit.  Led  or  forced  to  simulate  emotions  they 
had  not  time  to  come  by  honestly,  the  children  brought  up 
on  that  theory  developed  an  attitude  toward  the  Bible  which 
was  partly  aversion,  partly  apathy,  and  which  was  wholly 
unreal.  I  know  of  one  girl  reared  in  a  Christian  home  who 
did  not  lack  intelligence  in  other  lines,  who  reached  the 
ripe  age  of  thirteen  before  she  realized  that  the  doings  re- 
corded in  the  Bible  occurred  on  this  earth,  she  having  all 
along  thought  that  they  had  transpired  in  heaven." 

What  we  lose  in  thus  isolating  the  sacred  Scriptures  may 
be  inferred  from  this,  by  G.  Stanley  Hall:  "It  does  seem 
to  me  that  the  Bible,  certainly  the  most  consummate  text- 
book in  psychology  that  the  world  has  ever  seen,  not  only 
knows  and  touches  the  human  heart  at  more  points  than  any 
other,  but  that  the  order  of  the  books,  in  the  main,  is  the 
most  pedagogic." 

2.  Study  the  disposition  and  the  teachings  of  Jesus. 
His  was  the  indescribable,  the  matchless  charm  that  once 
for  all  glorified  humanity.  It  would  be  easy  to  imagine  the 
principal  trait  of  the  King  of  kings  as  majesty 
The  Moral  qj.  gplendor ;  but  it  was  neither  of  these.  It  was 
Jesus  ^  °  ^  purely  moral  trait,  a  personal  charm  that  won 

all  beholders  and  melted  all  hearts.  This  made 
it  possible  for  men  to  know  that  gentleness  is  stronger  than 
strength,  and  that  mercy  "becomes  the  throned  monarch  better 
than  his  crown."  Shakespeare's  poetry  is  the  Master's  prose. 
It  is  an  elementary  part  of  the  divine  revelation.  His  prin- 
ciple was  the  bringing  of  the  life  of  God  into  human  hearts. 
This  worked  out  in  all  religious  exercises  and  in  those  moral 
virtues  and  charms  of  disposition  which  are  their  normal 
expression. 

Jesus  made  so  much  of  "good  works"  that  they  seem  to 
fill  His  whole  thought.  He  constantly  interpreted  religion 
in  terms  of  character  and  good  deeds.     "This  do  and  thou 


i86       THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

shalt  live,"  He  said  to  the  lawyer.  He  told  us  that  when 
He  should  come  again  in  the  glory  of  His  Father  with  His 
angels  He  would  "render  unto  every  man  according  to  his 
deeds."  "Depart,  ye  cursed,  into  the  eternal  fire,"  will  be 
said  to  those  who  have  failed  to  act  as  Christians  should, 
while  those  who  will  hear  the  "Come,  ye  blessed  of  My 
Father,"  will  be  those  who  have  done  the  deeds  that  He 
taught  by  precept  and  example.  The  immortal  Beatitudes 
are  but  specifications  of  the  things  that  delight  and  win  and 
control  in  human  souls.  The  "white  robes"  that  characterize 
the  saved,  in  Revelation,  are  "the  righteous  acts  of  the 
saints,"  which  is  according  to  the  Master.  Here  also  we 
read  that  books  are  opened  at  the  judgment,  and  that  we 
are  to  be  "judged  out  of  the  things  which  are  written  in 
the  books,"  according  to  our  works.  The  white  robes  are 
"washed  in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb,"  but  the  washing  is  done 
by  the  saints  themselves :  "Blessed  are  they  that  wash  their 
robes,  that  they  may  have  the  right  to  come  to  the  tree  of 
life." 

3.  Biographical  examples.  Here  is  a  field  so  rich,  so 
interesting,  and  so  effective  that  we  do  not  know  how  to 
do  it  justice  in  a  paragraph.  But  fortunately  we  have  all 
been  familiar  with  the  stories  of  men  and  women. 
Other  Lines  great  and  small,  good  and  bad,  high  and  low, 
and  Power  Selfish  and  devoted.  The  Bible  characters,  as 
well  as  the  great  commanding  figures  of  history, 
we  have  known  intimately  from  childhood,  and  we  have 
carried  their  influence  with  us. 

An  interesting  experiment  in  this  method  was  once  tried 
in  a  school  in  New  York  which  was  composed  of  about  a 
hundred  boys,  most  of  whom  had  been  expelled  from  Sun- 
day-schools as  incorrigible.  A  friend  of  the  teacher  had 
offered  prizes  for  those  boys  who  could  report  a  certain 
number  of  good  or  kind  or  noble  deeds  which  they  had 
themselves  witnessed  or  heard  or  read  about,  either  at  the 
present  time  or  in  past  history.     The  object  was,  first,  to  see 

3 


TEACHING  OF  MORALS  AND  MANNERS      187 

what  constituted  a  truly  brave  and  noble  action  in  the  minds 
of  the  boys,  and,  second,  to  "train  them  not  to  find  it  in 
warlike  or  showy  deeds,  but  in  acts  of  loving  self-sacrifice 
often  never  known  or  recognized,  in  little  ways  of  kindness 
or  self-denial."  The  Century  Magazine,  which  told  the  story, 
reported  the  success  of  the  method  to  be  extraordinary.  The 
teacher  said,  *T  gained  a  valuable  knowledge  of  boy  life  and 
boys'  needs  that  I  never  dreamed  of  before."  When  the  time 
for  the  reading  of  these  records  came  the  interest  was  intense. 
To  the  surprise  of  the  teacher  the  first  prize,  a  good  watch, 
fell  to  a  boy  who  the  previous  year  was  taken  by  the  sexton 
by  the  scruff  of  the  neck — a  ragged,  barefooted  boy — and 
landed  off  the  church  grounds,  and  told  never  to  come  back. 
It  was  found  that  the  collection  and  narration  of  these  deeds 
had  aroused  into  activity  the  better  nature  of  the  boys,  as  v/as 
made  evident  by  tkeir  quaint  moral  reflections  and  exhorta- 
tions interspersed  and  appended. 

4.  The  use  of  ideals.  In  these  ways  there  will  grow  up 
in  the  mind  of  the  pupil  a  number  of  moral  ideals :  honesty, 
purity,  sympathy,  generosity,  tenderness,  usefulness,  and  the 
rest.  The  skillful  teacher  may  place  these,  and  foster  and  en- 
rich them,  and  see  to  it  that  they  have  their  normal  exercise 
upon  the  growing  soul.  These  operate  upon  the  intellect,  but 
most  upon  the  feelings,  and  the  feelings  are  basal  in  charac- 
ter building.  Dr.  W.  H.  Payne  says :  "At  least  the  half,  and 
perhaps  the  better  half,  of  education  consists  in  the  formation 
of  right  feelings.  He  who  teaches  us  to  look  out  upon  the 
world  through  eyes  of  affection,  sympathy,  charity,  and  good 
will  has  done  more  for  us  and  for  society  than  he  who  may 
have  taught  us  the  seven  arts."  Thomas  Davidson  defines 
education,  in  the  widest  sense,  "as  the  upbuilding  of  a  world 
in  feeling  or  in  consciousness," 

5.  The  teacher  himself.  We  are  quite  familiar  with  the 
maxim  that  the  teacher  teaches  mostly  by  what  he  is, 
whether  he  will  or  no.  This  is  often  referred  to  as  a  respon- 
sibility and  a  burden,  but  it  is  also  a  privilege  and  a  joy. 


i88       THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

Daniel  Webster  said  that  he  could  answer  the  arguments  of 
all  the  theologians  he  had  ever  known,  but  he  could  not  an- 
swer the  argument  of  the  Christian  living  of  an 
The  Influence      ,  ,  ,       <•  i  •  •      ^i       -nt  tt  i  •        i  -n 

of  Godliness  ^^^"    *-*  ^P  ^^  New  Hampshire  hills. 

The  saintly  Fenelon  had  an  atheist  as  a  guest, 
to  whom  he  addressed  no  word  of  solicitation ;  but  when  the 
guest  went  away  he  said,  "If  I  stay  here  much  longer  I  shall 
become  a  Christian  in  spite  of  myself."  Dr.  Chalmers  de- 
clared that  "there  is  an  energy  of  moral  suasion  in  a  good 
man's  life  surpassing  the  highest  efforts  of  the  orator's  genius. 
The  seen  beauty  of  holiness  speaks  more  eloquently  of  God 
and  duty  than  the  tongues  of  men  and  of  angels." 

Thomas  C.  Clark  tells  of  a  bar  of  steel,  eight  feet  l«ng  and 
weighing  five  hundred  pounds,  in  a  certain  gun  factory,  which 
was  suspended  vertically  by  a  delicate  chain.  Near  by  it  was 
a  common  cork,  suspended  by  a  silk  thread.  It  was  done  to 
show  that  the  cork  could  set  the  heavy  bar  in  motion.  This 
seemed  impossible.  The  cork  was  swung  gently  against  the 
bar,  but  it  remained  motionless.  But  the  swinging  was  kept 
up  for  ten  minutes,  and  lo,  at  the  end  of  that  time  the  bar 
gave  evidence  of  being  uncomfortable;  a  sort  of  nervous  chill 
ran  over  it.  Ten  minutes  later,  and  the  chill  was  followed 
by  a  vibration.  At  the  end  of  half  an  hour  the  great  bar  was 
swinging  like  the  pendulum  of  a  clock. 

The  teacher  has  a  point  of  vantage  with  the  pupil,  by  vir- 
tue of  his  nearness  to  him.  However  hard  and  refractory  the 
latter's  nature  may  seem,  it  can  not  resist  very  long  the  gentle 
influences  that  fall  upon  him  from  a  loving  soul.  The  larg- 
est and  brightest  and  strongest  lesson  in  morals  and  manners 
is  the  teacher  himself. 

Lesson  Outline: 

I.   The  Same  Subject  Continued. 
II.   The  Moral  Life. 
III.   Manners. 


TEACHING  OF  MORALS  AND  MANNERS      189 

IV.    Can  These  Things  be  Taught? 

1.  Use  the  Bible. 

2.  Study  the  Master. 

3.  Biographical  examples. 

4.  The  use  of  ideals. 

5.  The  teacher  himself. 

Topics  for  Special  Study: 

1.  The  Bible  as  an  ethical  text-book. 

2.  The  power  of  ideals  in  moral  education. 

Topics  for  Class  Discussion: 

1.  What  is  the  difference  between  religion  and  morals? 

2.  What  is  the  evil  of  separating  morals  and  religion? 

3.  What  place  has  morals  in  the  Word  of  God? 

4.  Is  personal  charm  for  everybody? 

5.  What  use  is  to  be  made  of  ideals? 

6.  What  of  the  teacher's  example? 


•    CHAPTER  XIV 

THE  SOCIAL  INSTINCTS  AND  THEIR 
TRAINING 


CHAPTER  XIV 
THE  SOCIAL  INSTINCTS  AND  THEIR  TRAINING 

I.  The  Filial  Sense 

The  heart  of  Christian  piety  is  the  filial  sense.  There  are 
many  conceptions  and  definitions  of  the  Christian  life,  with 
many  varied  appeals  and  testimonies.  There  is  often  a  sad 
confusion  upon  a  great  question  which  should  be  made  clear 
The  Sense  ^^  ^^^  outset.  The  youth  is  urged  to  "give  your 
of  Sonship  heart  to  God,"  to  "seek  salvation,"  to  "come  to 
the  Heart  of  Jesus,"  to  "get  Under  the  blood,"  to  "venture  out 
the  Christian  ^^  ^^^  promises,"  to  "cling  to  the  Cross,"  to 
"take  hold  of  Christ  by  faith,"  and  to  do  many 
other  things.  Of  course  all  these  figures  of  speech  have  ref- 
erence to  the  same  act,  but  they  are  often  cloudy  and  confus- 
ing metaphors  to  the  youth  inexperienced  in  spiritual  things. 
After  he  has  received  conscious  pardon  from  God  he  is  trou- 
bled at  times  to  know  just  where  the  center  of  his  spiritual 
life  is,  and  what  he  should  cherish  as  the  fundamental  and 
unchangeable  thing  in  it. 

This  may  be  described  as  the  sense  of  sonship  with  God. 
To  be  a  Christian  is  to  be  consciously  a  child  of  God.  It  is 
for  this  that  the  soul  is  regenerated,  and  to  this  the  Spirit 
bears  the  inward  witness.  Our  Lord  used  this  as  the  highest 
inducement  for  His  disciples  to  do  the  hard  things  of  the 
Christian  life,  such  as  loving  their  enemies.  He  urged  this, 
"that  ye  may  be  sons  of  your  Father  who  is  in  heaven."  He 
urged  perfection  upon  them  and  us  for  the  same  reason. 

II.  The  Fraternal  Sense 

But  to  be  a  son  of  God  is  to  be  a  brother  of  all  His  other 
children.     We  can  not  have  God  for  our  Father  and  disown 

13  193  3 


194       THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

the  rest  of  the  family.  The  moment  we  come  into  the  new 
relation  with  the  Father  we  come  into  a  new  relation  with 
men.  This  is  fundamental  and  characteristic  Christianity. 
To  be  a  Son  ^^  Christians  have  been  slow  to  accept  this  it  by 
of  God  is  to  no  means  discredits  its  truth.  If  they  have 
be  a  Brother  placed  most  of  the  emphasis  upon  their  own 
of  Men  "adoption  and  assurance,"  it  does  not  undo  the 

bonds  that  Jesus  Christ  took  infinite  pains  to  secure.  The 
brotherhood  of  man  goes  with  the  Fatherhood  of  God. 

A  story  is  told  of  a  tramp  who  asked  food  of  a  good 
deacon  one  Sunday  morning.  "Yes,"  said  the  deacon,  "I  will 
give  you  something  to  eat,  if  you  will  offer  a  prayer."  "But 
I  do  n't  know  how  to  pray,"  said  the  tramp.  "Well,"  said 
the  deacon,  'T  will  teach  you.  Just  repeat  after  me,"  and  he 
began  the  Lord's  Prayer,  in  the  first  words  of  which  the 
tramp  meekly  followed  him.  But  he  interrupted  with  the 
question,  "Whose  Father  is  that?"  "Why — I  suppose — of  all 
of  us,"  said  the  deacon.  "Yours  and  mine,  too?"  asked  the 
aroused  tramp.  "Why — yes — I  suppose  so,"  said  the  deacon. 
"Well,  then,"  said  the  tramp,  "if  that  is  so,  don't  you  think 
for  the  sake  of  the  family  that  you  could  cut  that  slice  of 
bread  a  little  thicker?" 

This  is  bed-rock  Christian  theology.  There  is  nothing 
deeper  than  this.  Whatever  else  may  be  modified  in  the 
changes  of  time,  the  brotherhood  of  man  will  survive  as  long 
as  Christianity  lives  and  remembers  Christ. 

III.    The  Social  Sense 

Here  we  find  the  prevailing  response  of  the  adolescent  na- 
ture to  Christian  appeals.  The  saving  faith  that  the  youth 
exercises  finds  its  expression  in  fraternal  and 
The  Social  social  modes.  The  social  is  only  a  phase  of  the 
of  Religion  fraternal.  The  relation  of  brotherhood  is  the 
soil  from  which  friendship  grows,  and  which  se- 
cures its  identity  and  its  persistence. 

Adults  are  often  solicitous  about  the  reality  of  the  religion 


SOCIAL  INSTINCTS  AND  THEIR  TRAINING    195 

of  youth  because  it  does  not  express  itself  like  that  of  older 
people.  Young  people  are  not  mournful  very  long  at  a  time, 
even  for  their  sins.  They  do  not  sigh  and  groan  over  their 
wickedness  to  any  great  extent,  and  they  do  not  shout  in 
ecstasy  when  God  forgives  them.  They  do  not  interpret  their 
Christian  experience  either  in  terms  of  deep  despondency 
or  of  high  exultation.  They  are  not  likely  to  weep  in 
telling  their  experience,  nor  to  be  very  fierce  in  talk- 
ing about  sin,  and  inviting  sinners  to  Christ.  A  large 
volume  of  the  hymnology  of  the  prayer-meeting  is  unreal 
to  them,  and  they  do  not  choose  it.  They  will  sing  "I 
want  to  be  an  angel,"  when  they  are  children,  because  we  ask 
them  to  do  so,  but  when  they  are  older  they  do  not  care  to 
voice  such  an  untruth  even  in  song.  Neither  do  they  like  to 
sing, 

"Can    my    God    His    wrath    forbear, 
Me,  the  chief  of  sinners,  spare?" 

for  the  same  good  reason.  They  are  also  disinclined  to  sing 
about  old  age,  and  infirmities,  and  afflictions,  and  death.  They 
are  not  introspective,  and  do  not  dwell  upon  the  rising  and 
falling  tides  of  their  own  feelings.  No  wonder  that  the  older 
people,  who  have  forgotten  how  it  feels  to  be  young  and  re- 
gard all  people  as  of  one  type,  fail  to  recognize  religion  as  it 
expresses  itself  in  young  Christians. 

But  it  is  there,  in  its  very  essence,  if  it  holds  the  funda- 
mentals. If  the  youth  loves  God  with  all  his  heart,  and  his 
neighbor  as  himself,  he  is  a  Christian  according  to  Christ. 
If  he  knows  that  God  is  his  Father,  and  counts  his  fellow-men 
as  brothers,  he  is  a  genuine  believer.  It  may  not  be  his  fault 
if  he  is  not  understood.  Perhaps  the  hymn-book  ought  to 
be  made  to  fit  him,  rather  than  that  he  should  be  trimmed 
to  fit  the  hymn-book.  Why  is  it  that  there  are  so  many  hymns 
of  the  self-life  and  so  few  of  the  brother-life?  Why  do  hymns 
of  sentiment  abound  and  hymns  of  consecration  remain 
scarce?    Why  do  they  sing  so  much  of  personal  joy  and  so 


196       THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

little  of  service?  Is  it  any  wonder  that  the  good  old  hymn, 
"A  Charge  to  Keep  I  Have,"  repels  young  people  by  its  first 
verse?  They  are  temperamentally  unable  to  comprehend  it  as 
the  highest  religious  aspiration  to  save  their  own  soul,  and  to 
"fit  it  for  the  sky."  Bishop  Janes  had  the  same  difficulty,  and 
he  changed  one  word,  and  sang  it : 

"A  charge  to  keep  I  have, 

A  God  to  glorify, 
A  never-dying  world  to  save, 
And  fit  it  for  the  sky." 

This  changes  the  whole  horizon,  and  makes  religion  a  dedica- 
tion of  self  to  the  world's  salvation,  rather  than  a  selfish  ab- 
sorption in  one's  own  soul's  interests.  Young  people  do  not 
live  alone,  and  they  do  not  care  to  be  saved  alone.  And  they 
have  a  healthy  trust  in  their  Heavenly  Father  which  keeps 
them  from  fear  of  death  and  hell  while  they  are  active  in  the 
service  of  their  Elder  Brother. 

IV.    The  Social  Awakening 

One  of  the  most  characteristic  and  interesting  phenomena 
of  adolescence  is  the  awakening,  or  at  least  the  amplification, 
of  the  social  instincts.  We  have  met  this  before,  and  now 
recur  to  it  in  the  study  of  the  religious  culture 
The  Youth's  q£  yQ^j^g  people.  In  the  later  teens  the  youth 
o/Humanity  ^^^^1''^  to  realize  as  never  before  that  he  is  in  a 
world  of  people,  and  this  not  as  a  pebble  on  the 
beach  but  as  a  related  person.  The  world  is  not  a  hetero- 
geneous mass,  but  a  society  whose  members  are  "one  of  an- 
other." The  adolescent  thus  finds  himself;  for  this  new  con- 
ception of  humanity  transfigures  him.  It  makes  a  prodigious 
difference  to  him  if  he  is  no  longer  an  isolated  unit  but  a 
member  of  society,  linked  in  with  the  rest. 

When  he  comes  to  realize  this  more  and  more  by  constant 
observation  and  study,  he  feels  himself  enlarging  to  fit  the 
dimensions  of  his  conception.     Sometimes  he  can  see  himself 

3 


SOCIAL  INSTINCTS  AND  THEIR  TRAINING    197 

growing  from  one  day  to  another.  He  is  almost  bewildered 
by  the  suddenness  of  the  transition.  His  juvenility  is  falling 
from  him  like  a  garment.  His  old  notions  are  shrinking,  and 
fading,  and  drifting  into  the  past  like  fleecy  clouds.  His 
standpoint  is  so  changed  that  an  entire  new  outfit  of  ideals 
must  be  set  up.  He  rises  so  high  and  so  swiftly  that  the  en- 
larging panorama  of  life  exhilarates  him — and  he  sees  men 
and  women  everywhere.  His  horoscope  is  no  longer  cast 
upon  his  exclusive  personality,  for  he  sees  clearly  now  that  his 
future  will  be  but  a  function  of  the  lives  of  all  he  meets  with 
or  knows  about.  He  will  stand  by  his  own  loom,  but  others 
will  throw  in  their  shuttles  from  time  to  time,  and  the  web 
will  contain  hues  that  will  not  be  of  his  own  weaving.  A  sun 
has  arisen  upon  his  horizon,  and  in  its  golden  light  his  fellow- 
men  stand  newly  revealed  to  him.  Henceforth  he  must  know 
them,  and  walk  with  them,  and  love  and  serve  them.  The 
youth  has  discovered  humanity. 

V.    The  Social  Age  of  Man 

Another  item  of  importance  to  us  here  is  the  social  awak- 
ening of  humanity  itself.  If  "the  recapitulation  theory"  is 
true,  and  the  growing  human  being  reproduces  in  his  life  all 
the  stages  of  growth  through  which  the  race  has 
The  Social  passed,  it  may  be  true  that  there  is  another  reflec- 
of^Humanity  ^^°^  ^^  which  the  race  may  be  read  in  the  light  of 
the  individual.  According  to  this  the  race  would 
now  be  adolescent,  because  it  is  manifesting  many  of  the 
peculiarities  of  youth.  However  this  may  be,  it  is  certain  that 
there  is  a  social  awakening  taking  place  more  marked,  and 
more  momentous,  than  the  race  has  ever  known. 

Professor  Francis  G.  Peabody  states  that  "the  most  char- 
acteristic and  significant  discovery  of  the  present  age  is  the 
discovery  of  the  social  conscience."  And  again,  "There  is  not 
only  given  to  our  age  a  mission,  but  there  is  added  a  distinct 
consciousness  of  that  mission.  We  do  not  have  to  wait  for 
the  philosophical  historian  of  some  remote  future  to  discern 


198       THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

the  characteristic  problem  of  the  present  time.  Behind  the 
extraordinary  achievements  of  modern  civilization,  its  trans- 
formations of  business  methods,  its  miracles  of  scientific  dis- 
covery, its  mighty  combinations  of  political  forces,  there  lies 
at  the  heart  of  the  present  time  a  burdening  sense  of  social 
mal-adjustment  which  creates  what  we  call  the  social  ques- 
tion. This  is  what  gives  its  fundamental  character  to  the 
present  age."  In  many  varied,  and  often  unreasonable  and 
extravagant,  ways  the  characteristic  emotion  of  the  time  ex- 
presses itself.  It  is  the  age  of  the  social  question.  Never 
were  so  many  people,  learned  and  ignorant,  rich  and  poor, 
philosophers  and  agitators,  men  and  women,  so  stirred  by 
this  recognition  of  inequality  in  social  opportunity  by  the  call 
to  social  service,  by  dreams  of  a  better  social  world. 

We  have  seen  why  we  should  not  expect  to  find  in  our 
youth  the  religious  reactions  that  are  manifested  by  mature 
men  and  women  in  camp  meetings  and  other  "protracted 
meetings;"  also,  why  we  should  expect  to  find  their  religion 
a  normal  expression  of  their  newly  evolved  social  nature.  The 
marvelous  social  atmosphere  of  our  time  adds  to  this.  The 
young,  with  their  wide-open  senses  and  their  quick  sensibili- 
ties, discern  the  signs  of  our  times,  and  respond  to  them. 
The  social  promptings  of  their  own  hearts  are  congenial  to 
the  life  of  men.    The  youth  is  at  home  in  the  young  world. 

VI.    Our  Social  Christianity 

The  more  we  study  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ  the  plainer 
its   social   character  becomes.     To  one  who  has   accustomed 
himself  to  regard  Christianity  as  simply  a  remedial  system, 
the    conception    of    it    as    a    social    organization 
Gospel  ^^^^^  constructive  aims  is  startling,  and  often  irri- 

tating. Yet  this  is  certainly  the  true  conception. 
Jesus  preached  the  gospel  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  He 
aimed  at  a  reconstructed  society,  a  world  renewed  in  right- 
eousness. He  has  salvation  for  the  individual  sinner,  but  His 
main  reliance  is  upon  a  state  of  things  in  society  that  will 

3 


SOCIAL  INSTINCTS  AND  THEIR  TRAINING    199 

prevent  sin  and  obviate  the  necessity  of  sinners.  He  preached 
a  social  gospel,  and  His  disciples  were  social  workers.  Phil- 
lips Brooks  says:  ''Jesus  begins  with  the  individual.  His 
first  and  deepest  touches  are  upon  the  single  soul.  In  the 
individual  experience  man's  life  always  begins.  But  there 
are  some  things  of  the  individual  life  which  the  individual 
can  not  get  save  in  the  company  of  fellow-men.  There  are 
some  parts  of  his  own  true  life  always  in  his  brethren's  keep- 
ing, for  which  he  must  go  to  them.  That  the  individual  may 
find  and  be  his  own  truest  and  fullest  self,  Jesus,  his  Master, 
leads  him  to  his  fellows." 

The  same  great  teacher  contrasts  Christianity  with  pagan- 
ism by  this  striking  trope :  "In  one  of  the  most  rich  and  beau- 
tiful of  European  galleries  hangs  Raphael's  greatest  Madonna, 
called  the  Madonna  of  St.  Sixtus.  Among  the  dreary  sands 
at  the  edge  of  the  Egyptian  desert,  under  the  shadow  of  the 
pyramids,  stands  the  mighty  sphinx,  the  work  of  unknown 
hands,  so  calm  and  so  eternal  in  its  solitude  that  it  is  hard 
to  think  of  it  as  the  work  of  human  hands  at  all;  as  true  a 
part  of  the  great  earth,  it  seems,  as  any  mountain  that  pierces 
upward  from  its  bosom.  These  two  suggest  comparisons  that 
are  certainly  not  fancies.  They  are  the  two  great  expressions 
in  art  of  the  two  religions — the  religion  of  the  East  and  of 
the  West.  Fatalism  and  Providence  they  seem  to  mean.  Both 
have  tried  to  express  a  union  of  humanity  with  something 
which  is  its  superior;  but  one  has  joined  it  only  to  the  supe- 
rior strength  of  the  animal,  while  the  other  has  filled  it  with 
the  superior  spirituality  of  a  divine  nature.  One  unites  wis- 
dom and  power,  and  claims  man's  homage  for  that  conjunc- 
tion. The  other  combines  wisdom  and  love,  and  says,  'Wor- 
ship this.'  The  sphinx  has  life  in  its  human  face  written  into 
a  riddle,  a  puzzle,  a  mocking  bewilderment.  The  Virgin's 
face  is  full  of  a  mystery  we  can  not  fathom,  but  it  unfolds  to 
us  a  thousand  of  the  mysteries  of  life.  It  does  not  mock, 
but  blesses  us.  The  sphinx  oppresses  us  with  colossal  size. 
The  Virgin  is  not  a  distortion  or  an  exaggeration,  but  a  glori- 


200        THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

fication  of  humanity.  The  Egyptian  monster  is  alone  amid 
its  sands,  to  be  worshiped,  not  loved.  The  Christian  woman 
has  her  child  clasped  in  her  arms,  enters  into  the  societies  and 
sympathies  of  men,  and  claims  no  worship  but  love.  It  is  in 
this  last  difference — the  difference  between  the  solitude  of 
one  and  the  companionship  of  the  other — that  we  feel,  I  think, 
most  distinctly  how  different  is  the  Christianity  of  the  picture 
from  the  sublime  paganism  of  the  statue." 

VII.  Our  Social  Ethics 

The  virtues  unite  people :  the  vices  all  tend  to  divide  them. 
The  virtues  are  social :  the  vices  are  dissocial.  Virtue  is  con- 
structive: vice  is  destructive.  Society,  then,  must  cultivate 
Virtue  Serves  ^^^  virtues  in  order  to  live  at  all;  and  it  must 
Society  in  a  fight  the  vices  for  its  life.  The  virtues  need  no 
Constructive  defense,  nor  any  argument  beyond  this  prime  fact 
^^y  of  their  operation.     There  is  power  in  this  basal 

contrast  to  win  the  devotion  of  young  people  to  the  virtues. 
There  was  once  a  young  man  just  about  to  graduate  from 
college,  to  whom  this  putting  of  the  inherent  social  quality  of 
the  virtues  came  like  a  shock.  He  said:  *T  never  thought 
of  this  before.  It  was  a  great  argument,  and  one  that  ex- 
horted me  powerfully  for  thirty  years." 

VIII.  Training  to  Type 

After  we  have  before  us  the  type  of  normal  youth  there  is 
little  to  be  said  as  to  specific  training,  for  all  this  should  be 
in  the  direction  of  the  type.     It  is  not  to  be  assumed  that  the 

religion  of  maturity  is  the  only  desirable  type  of 
The  Piety  of  piety,  nor  are  the  healthy  instincts  of  youth  to  be 
High  Type       thwarted  or  repressed.     The  young  person  is  to 

be  encouraged  to  be  social  in  his  Christian  life, 
and  he  is  not  to  be  urged  to  untimely  emotions  or  testimonies. 
It  is  evident  that  the  happy,  hopeful,  trusting  spirit  of  youth 
is  a  part  of  the  Christian  ideal  that  is  never  to  be  allowed 
to  wane.     The  coldness  and  the  pessimism  of  later  life  is  not 


SOCIAL  INSTINCTS  AND  THEIR  TRAINING    201 

a  natural  following  of  the  warmth  of  youth.  It  is  rather  a 
degeneration.  The  little  child  likes  to  play  alone,  and  when 
he  grows  older  he  plays  for  himself,  even  with  others.  He 
has  not  yet  come  to  the  time  when  he  plays  not  only  with  oth- 
ers, but  for  them.  The  old  man  who  is  living  for  himself, 
though  under  a  Christian  profession,  has  sunk  back  to  child- 
hood. He  has  reverted  to  type.  The  crying  need  of  the 
Church  and  the  world  as  well  is  for  such  training  of  the  so- 
cial instincts  of  youth  as  will  prevent  this  degeneration  and 
carry  them  forward  into  a  maturity  more,  rather  than  less, 
social  and  optimistic. 

IX.    The  Senior  and  His  Pleasures 

The  Senior  should  have  his  pleasures,  for  they  are  a  part 
of  his  life.  He  should  mingle  frequently  and  freely  with  his 
companions.     The  sexes   are  not  to  be  kept  apart,  but  they 

are  to  be  so  taught  that  their  association  will  be 
Youthful  innocent   while   it   is   pleasurable   and   educative. 

Neces^s^ary^'^^  Thesc   social    gatherings    should   not   be    left   to 

chance.  Sympathetic  elders  may  help  the  young 
people  much  by  their  experience,  and  they  may  be  sure  that 
this  will  be  welcomed  by  the  young,  if  it  is  proffered  aright. 
The  Sunday-school  teacher  will  find  that  there  are  few  things 
that  he  can  study  to  more  advantage  than  the  social  culture 
of  his  pupils.  He  will  make  a  mistake  if  he  attempts  to  dic- 
tate to  them  what  they  shall  do  or  where  they  shall  go  or  not 
go,  but  he  can  get  so  near  to  them  and  dwell  with  them  on 
terms  so  intimate  that  he  can  exert  a  good  influence  over 
them.  If  the  pupil  desires  a  comprehensive  test  for  his  pleas- 
ures, no  better  can  be  found  than  that  which  Mother  Wesley 
wrote  to  her  son  John  when  a  youth  in  college :  "Would  you 
judge  of  the  lawfulness  or  unlawfulness  of  a  pleasure,  take 
this  rule :  Whatever  weakens  your  reason,  impairs  the  ten- 
derness of  your  conscience,  obscures  your  sense  of  God,  or 
takes  off  the  relish  of  spiritual  things ;  whatever  increases  the 
authority  of  your  body  over  your  mind — that  thing,  to  you, 


202        THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

is  sin."  If  he  asks  for  a  test  for  his  amusements,  the  general 
rule  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  which  directs  its  mem- 
bers to  avoid  "the  taking  of  such  diversions  as  can  not  be 
used  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus,"  is  admirable.  But  the 
decision  in  all  cases  is  Mrith  the  individual.  Freedom  of  con- 
science is  one  of  the  corner-stones  of  Protestantism,  and  this 
is  always  to  be  maintained.  The  individual  makes  his  decision 
and  takes  the  responsibility. 

X.    The  Beginning  of  Service 

As  the  new  social  life  opens  in  the  heart  of  the  youth  he 
finds  his  teacher  ready  with  the  one  perfect  social  religion  to 
instruct  and  to  guide  him.  It  rejoices  with  him  in  his  inno- 
The  Religion  ^^^*  pleasures,  and  offers  him  a  great  variety 
of  Christ  of  classes   and   societies   and   companionships   in 

Beckons  which   he  may  pass   from   mere  enjoyment  to   a 

Him  on  fruitful   social   service,   wherein  he   will   develop 

into  full  self-realization  in  helping  others.  The  Spirit  of 
Christ  inspires  him,  and  his  Father's  smile  is  his  reward. 


Lesson  Outline: 

I. 

The  Filial   Sense. 

II. 

The  Fraternal  Sense. 

III. 

The  Social  Sense. 

IV. 

The  Social  Awakening. 

V. 

The  Social  Age  of  Man. 

VI. 

Our  Social  Christianity. 

VII. 

Our  Social  Ethics. 

VIII. 

Training  to  Type. 

IX. 

The  Senior  and  His  Pleasures, 

X. 

The  Beginning  of  Service. 

Topics  for  Special  Study: 

1.  Appropriate  religious  exercises  for  young  people. 

2.  The  social  teachings  of  Jesus. 


SOCIAL  INSTINCTS  AND  THEIR  TRAINING    203 

Topics  for  Class  Discussion: 

1.  What  is  the  essence  of  a  Christian  experience? 

2.  What  is  involved  in  being  a  child  of  God? 

3.  Describe  the  typical  young  man. 

4.  Is  there  such  a  thing  as  the  selfish  seeking  of  sal- 

vation ? 

5.  How  is  Christianity  a  social  religion? 

6.  How  are  the  vices  anti-social? 

7.  Should  the  adult  be  more  social,  or  less,  than  the 

youth  ? 

8.  The  social  advantages  of  the  Church. 


CHAPTER  XV 
THE  SENIOR'S  WORLD 


CHAPTER  XV 
THE  SENIOR'S  WORLD 

I.    The  Christian  Motive 

It  may  be  that  some  have  missed  a  note  of  emphasis  upon 
the  joy  of  pardoned  sin  as  the  great  inducement  offered  to  the 
3^oung  for  coming  to  Christ.  Frankly,  we  do  not  consider 
this  the  supreme  inducement.  It  is  scarcely  the 
The  Supreme  Christian  motive  at  all,  but  rather  one  of  its  in- 
Service  cidents.     The    Christian    according    to    Christ    is 

not  engrossed  with  his  emotions,  but  with  higher 
things.  "And  can  there  be  any  higher  things?"  Most  cer- 
tainly, there  can.  It  is  not  hard  to  ascertain  what  Jesus  was 
most  solicitous  for,  and  when  we  find  that  we  need  look  no 
farther  for  the  highest  and  worthiest  Christian  motive.  With 
Him  it  is  consecration,  service,  sacrifice.  "Go  ye  also  into 
the  vineyard,"  might  be  taken  as  His  generic  command. 
"Even  so  let  your  light  shine  before  men;  that  they  may  see 
your  good  works,  and  glorify  your  Father  who  is  in  heaven," 
is  another  characteristic  precept.  How  is  the  Father  glori- 
fied? "Herein  is  My  Father  glorified,  that  ye  bear  much 
fruit;  and  so  shall  ye  be  My  disciples." 

It  is  a  capital  task  of  the  teacher  to  win  his  pupils  to 
Christ,  and  so  to  do  this  that  they  will  not  tire  of  their  re- 
ligion after  a  time,  but  go  on  to  higher  levels  as  long  as 
they  live.  This  is  done  by  inspiring  these  young  people  with 
the  noblest  ambitions.  A  valuable  aid  in  this  task  is  the 
study  of  the  new  world  into  which  the  Seniors  are  entering. 

207  ^ 


2o8       THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

II.    The  Inspiration  of  Opportunity 

Tennyson  said  that  fifty  years  of  Europe  was  better  than 
a  cycle  of  China.  This  was  because  of  the  opportunities  that 
Europe  offered  and  that  China  lacked.  One  of  the  strongest 
motives  to  enterprise  and  achievement  in  the  life  of  the  race 
has  been  opportunity;  perhaps  it  has  been  the  strongest  of  all. 
What  is  the  difference  between  being  born  in  a 
Opportunity  Greenland  igloo  and  a  Massachusetts  home? 
Achievement  Much  more  than  the  difference  of  temperature. 
What  shines  before  the  Greenland  boy  as  he 
grows  toward  manhood?  Not  much  more  than  the  aurora 
borealis.  His  future  must  perforce  be  narrow  and  lean,  with 
a  life  of  drudgery  and  suffering  all  along.  But  the  American 
youth  looks  out  upon  a  future  filled  with  the  promise  of  per- 
sonal comfort  and  luxury,  with  ten  thousand  possibilities  of 
prosperity,  and  some,  perhaps,  of  greatness.  We  are  too  well 
accustomed  to  our  own  privileges  to  be  able  to  value  them 
adequately,  but  it  is  certain  that  in  no  nation  of  all  the  na- 
tions, and  in  no  century  of  all  the  centuries,  has  there  been  so 
much  placed  before  young  people  as  in  our  own  country 
and  age. 

Professor  Bryce  says :  "The  institutions  of  the  United 
States  are  deemed  by  inhabitants  and  admitted  by  strangers 
to  be  a  matter  of  more  general  interest  than  those  of  the  not 
less  famous  nations  of  the  Old  World.  They  represent  an 
experiment  in  the  rule  of  the  multitude,  tried  on  a  scale  un- 
precedentedly  vast,  and  the  result  of  which  every  one  is  con- 
cerned to  watch.  And  yet  they  are  something  more  than  an 
experiment,  for  they  are  believed  to  disclose  and  display  the 
type  of  institutions  towards  which,  as  by  the  law  of  fate,  the 
rest  of  civilized  mankind  are  forced  to  move;  some  with 
swifter,  others  with  slower,  but  all  with  unresting  feet."  Our 
young  people  belong  to  this  favored  land,  and  are  to  have  a 
share  in  the  outworking  of  this  mighty  experiment.  They 
are  entitled  to  the  inspiration  that  comes  from  a  clear  view  of 


THE  SENIOR'S  WORLD  209 

this  wide  and  glowing  horizon.     "Lift  up  your  eyes  and  look- 
on  the  fields." 

The  great  seal  of  the  United  States  is  a  symbol  of  this 
inspiration,  with  a  prophecy.  The  design  on  its  reverse  side 
is  a  pyramid,  which  is  unfinished  and  truncated.  Over  it  is  an 
eye.  The  pyramid,  which  is  of  all  geometrical  figures  the 
most  stable,  represents  our  country,  and  the  eye  is  the  Provi- 
dence of  God.  There  are  two  mottoes,  which  may  be  thus 
translated :  "God  favors  our  enterprise,"  and  "A  new  era  in 
the  centuries."  This  seal  might  well  be  impressed  upon  the 
heart  of  every  young  American.  It  is  his  unparalleled  privi- 
lege to  march  into  manhood  with  the  conviction  that  his  life's 
day  is  allotted  him  in  the  beginning  of  this  grand  era,  and 
that  the  favor  of  God  is  upon  his  country  and  himself.  Every 
field  is  open  to  him;  every  sky  bends  propitious;  every  star 
shines  for  him ;  the  birds  are  singing  the  harmonies  of  na- 
ture; "winds  blow  and  waters  roll  strength  to  the  brave." 

III.    Our  National  Birthright 

Said  Emerson:  "We  live  in  a  new  and  exceptional  age. 
America  is  another  name  for  opportunity.  Our  whole  history 
appears  like  a  last  effort  of  the  Divine  Providence  in  behalf 

of  the  human  race."  This  is  not  the  mere  froth 
The  New  ^^  patriotism.  Consider  the  location  of  the  Uni- 
theWest         ^^^  States,  in  the  midst  of  the  north  temperate 

zone,  and  extending  from  ocean  to  ocean.  Con- 
sider its  vast  and  varied  products,  and  its  unrivaled  resources 
of  every  kind.  Notice  its  position  in  the  path  of  the  slow- 
moving  but  mighty  world  movement  of  populations.  Says  Dr. 
Strong:  "Since  prehistoric  times  populations  have  moved 
steadily  westward,  as  DeTocqueville  said,  'as  if  driven  by  the 
mighty  hand  of  God.'  And  following  their  migrations  the 
course  of  empire  has  taken  its  way.  The  world's  scepter 
passed  from  Persia  to  Greece,  from  Greece  to  Italy,  from  Italy 
to  Great  Britain,  and  from  Great  Britain  the  scepter  is  to-day 
departing.  It  is  passing  on  to  'Greater  Britain/  to  our 
14  » 


210       THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

mighty  West,  there  to  remain,  for  there  is  no  further  West; 
beyond  is  the  Orient.  Like  the  star  in  the  East  which  guided 
the  three  kings  with  their  treasures  Westward  until  at  length 
it  stood  still  over  the  cradle  of  the  young  Christ,  so  the  star 
of  empire,  rising  in  the  East,  has  ever  beckoned  the  wealth 
and  power  of  the  nations  Westward,  until  to-day  it  stands 
still  over  the  cradle  of  the  young  empire  of  the  West,  to  which 
the  nations  are  bringing  their  offerings." 

It  is  thought  that  the  coming  census  will  show  nearly  ninety 
millions  of  people  in  this  country.  In  1790,  which  was 
long  after  the  Revolutionary  War,  there  were  but  3,929,214, 
which  is  less  than  the  population  of  the  city  of  New  York 
to-day.  The  world  never  saw  such  growth  as  this,  and  it  bids 
fair  to  go  on  with  greater  rapidity  in  the  future.  The  immi- 
gration in  1909  reached  the  enormous  total  of  751,786. 
Though  this  is  admittedly  a  source  of  peril,  it  is  a  national 
advantage  of  the  first  magnitude.  And  there  is  an  untold 
benejfit  to  the  American  race  from  the  admixture  of  the  vari- 
ous strains  of  blood  from  the  different  races  of  Europe.  Our 
American  blood  is  a  new  complex  of  English,  Dutch,  Irish, 
German,  Norse,  and  others,  which  scientists  tell  us  increases 
the  virility  and  versatility  of  the  men  of  the  New  World. 
Something  has  evidently  freshened  the  blood  and  quickened 
the  life  of  those  who  have  come  to  this  favored  land.  Refer- 
ring to  what  Americans  have  accomplished,  Sir  Henry  M. 
Stanley  says :  "Treble  their  number  of  ordinary  Europeans 
could  not  have  surpassed  them  in  what  they  have  done.  The 
story  of  their  achievements  reads  like  an  epic  of  the  heroic 
age." 

No  other  country  has  a  territory  comparable  to  our  own. 
It  is  hard  for  us  to  realize  its  vastness.  It  is  1,600  miles 
long,  and  2,720  miles  wide.  Its  area  is  3,618,484 
Territory  square    miles.      It    has    high    mountains,    broad 

prairies,  great  rivers,  and  fine  harbors.  It  has 
236,949  miles  of  railway,  and  the  railroads  carried  nearly 
874,000,000  passengers  last  year.     Its  wealth  is  over  $107,000,- 


THE  SENIOR'S  WORLD  211 

000,000,  which  allows  an  average  of  $1,310.11  to  each  inhabit- 
ant. We  have  over  eight  billions  of  dollars  deposited  in  our 
banks.  These  figures  are  too  large  to  convey  much  meaning. 
Let  us  help  them  out  with  the  candy  bill  of  the  country.  Per- 
haps that  will  give  us  a  better  idea  of  our  wealth.  This  ex- 
penditure was  $500,000,000  last  year,  which  would  pay  our 
enormous  pension  bill  in  four  months,  or  dig  the  Panama 
Canal  in  nine  months,  or  pay  the  entire  National  debt  in 
five  years. 

Our  climate  is  incomparable,  and  climate  is  one  of  the 
first  considerations  in  national  prosperity.  An  eminent  sci- 
entist says  that  easterly  winds  either  hug  the  earth  or  have 
an  upward  component  of  motion.  Gathering  the 
Climate  ^^^^  ^^^  ^^^  bacteria  they  become   foul  winds, 

under  which  animal  life  is  enervated  and  ren- 
dered susceptible  to  disease.  But  the  converse  is  true  of  the 
northwest  winds,  which  prevail  in  the  United  States.  They 
sweep  down  from  above,  coming  from  the  regions  where  the 
air  is  cool  and  dry,  highly  electrified,  and  filled  with  ozone. 
They  bring  physical  energy  and  buoyancy  in  their  mighty 
breath.  He  believes  that  these  west  winds  have  much  to  do 
with  the  formation  of  the  American  character.  The  race  that 
is  now  coming  to  be  known  as  American  has  fertility  of 
thought  and  energy  of  body.  Without  doubt  the  climate  has 
much  to  do  with  the  genesis  of  the  "indomitable  spirit  that  is 
reaching  out  for  the  hiastery  of  the  earth." 

A  number  of  years  ago  Arnold  Guyot  startled  and 
charmed  the  educational  world  by  his  unique  contributions  to 
historical  geography.  His  thesis  was  that  the  three  conti- 
nents of  the  North  are  organized  for  the  development  of  man, 
and  therefore  have  been  pre-eminently  the  historical  conti- 
nents; also,  that  the  entire  physical  creation  corresponds  to 
the  moral  creation,  and  is  only  to  be  explained  by  it.  "Asia, 
Europe,  and  North  America  are  the  grand  stages  of  humanity 
in  its  march  through  the  ages.  Asia  is  the  cradle  where  man 
passed  his  infancy,  under  the  authority  of  law,  and  where  he 


212        THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

learned  his  dependence  upon  a  sovereign  master.  Europe  is 
the  school  where  his  youth  was  trained,  where  he  waxed  in 
strength  and  knowledge,  grew  to  manhood,  and  learned  at 
once  his  liberty  and  his  moral  responsibility.  America  is  the 
theater  of  his  activity  during  the  period  of  manhood ;  the  land 
where  he  applies  and  practices  all  that  he  has  learned,  brings 
into  action  all  the  forces  he  has  acquired,  and  where  he  is 
still  to  learn  that  the  entire  development  of  his  being  and  his 
own  happiness  are  possible  only  by  willing  obedience  to  the 
laws  of  his  Maker.  Thus  lives  and  prospers,  under  the  pro- 
tection of  the  Divine  Husbandman,  the  great  tree  of  humanity, 
which  is  to  overshadow  the  whole  earth.  It  germinates  and 
sends  up  its  strong  trunk  in  the  ancient  land  of  Asia.  Grafted 
with  a  nobler  stalk,  it  shoots  out  new  branches,  it  blossoms  in 
Europe.  In  America  only  it  seems  destined  to  bear  all  its 
fruits.  In  these  three  we  behold  at  once,  as  in  a  vast  picture, 
the  past,  the  present,  and  the  future." 

Our  age  is  a  new  age  in  respect  to  the  marvelous  growth 
of  the  arts  and  sciences.  This  alone  would  make  life  a  privi- 
lege in  any  civilized  land.  It  is  said  that  the  English  Govern- 
ment issued  more  patents  during  the  twenty 
Industries  years  following  1850  than  during  the  two  hundred 
and  fifty  years  preceding.  But  the  United  States 
issues  four  times  as  many  patents  as  the  English  Government. 
Before  the  close  of  the  last  century  the  supremacy  of  our 
country  in  manufactures  was  recognized.  Prior  to  that  it 
had  been  first  in  agriculture,  producing  one-third  of  the  food 
supply  of  the  world,  with  but  one-twentieth  of  the  population. 
We  are  now  selling  our  products  everywhere.  The  exports 
of  last  year  were  valued  at  over  a  billion  and  a  half  of  dollars, 
and  they  are  increasing  all  the  time. 

Our  locomotives  are  found  in  China,  Japan,  Russia,  all  the 
South  American  countries,  in  Spain,  Italy,  France,  and  even 
in  England.  Dr.  Strong  tells  of  an  Englishman  who  had  a 
contract  to  furnish  locomotives  for  a  Chinese  railway.  He 
furnished   American   engines   because  he  could   get  them   in 


THE  SENIOR'S  WORLD  213 

four  and  one-half  months  at  $9,250  each,  while  English  en- 
gines would  have  cost  him  $14,000,  with  a  wait  of  two  years 
for  delivery.  Our  steel  rails  and  our  bridges  are  sold  all 
over  the  world.  A  Burmah  railway  invited  six  English  and 
two  American  companies  to  make  bids  for  a  bridge.  The  best 
English  offer  was  for  nearly  $600,000,  with  three  years'  time. 
An  American  firm  contracted  to  complete  the  work  in  one 
year  for  about  $300,000.  The  Kimberley  diamond  mines  in 
South  Africa,  the  largest  in  the  world,  use  American  machin- 
ery almost  exclusively,  because,  as  the  managers  say,  it  is 
cheaper,  and  it  works  better.  When  the  city  of  Glasgow  was 
equipping  its  municipal  street  car  lines  the  authorities  gave 
the  contracts  to  American  manufacturers.  These  amounted 
to  $15,000,000. 

These  are  but  hasty  items  of  a  vast  aggregate.  Dr.  Strong, 
who  treats  the  subject  at  length  in  "Expansion,"  concludes 
that  our  manufacturing  supremacy  is  likely  to  be  permanent 
in  the  world,  for  these  five  considerations :  we  have  the  coal, 
our  supply  being  several  times  that  of  all  Europe,  our  coal 
area  being  twenty-one  times  the  area  of  all  the  coal  fields  of 
Great  Britain.  *Tf  all  England,  Scotland,  and  Wales  were 
one  solid  bed  of  coal,  that  would  not  equal  one-half  of  our 
supplies  as  yet  untouched."  Secondly,  we  have  the  iron,  not 
only  in  the  Eastern  States,  but  not  a  State  west  of  the  Missis- 
sippi is  without  it.  As  to  our  production,  while  in  i860  it 
was  only  821,000  tons  of  pig  iron,  in  1908  it  was  over  sixteen 
millions  of  tons  of  pig  iron,  and  over  fourteen  millions  of 
tons  of  steel,  which  is  about  one-third  the  total  amount  pro- 
duced in  the  whole  world. 

A  third  condition  is  low  labor  cost,  due  to  American  ac- 
tivity and  machinery.  A  few  years  ago  a  German  expert  was 
sent  to  Massachusetts  to  examine  the  shoe  industry.  He  re- 
ported that  he  found  the  average  wages  of  the  workers  to  be 
$15  a  week,  and  the  average  labor  cost  of  a  pair  of  shoes  to 
be  forty  cents ;  while  similar  workmen  in  Germany  received 
$4  a  week,  and  the  labor  cost  of  shoes  was  fifty-eight  cents. 


214       THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

The  German  wage  was  thus  45%  more  expensive.  Watch- 
making in  Japan  is  reported  to  be  unprofitable  in  spite  of  the 
fact  that  Japanese  wages  are  only  twenty-five  cents  a  day,  as 
against  $3  a  day  paid  to  our  workmen. 

The  other  two  conditions  are  the  abundance  of  raw  ma- 
terials, and  the  accessibility  to  the  world's  markets.  Many 
years  ago  Gladstone  made  a  prophecy  about  us  which  is  being 
fulfilled  now :  "The  United  States  will  probably  become 
what  we  are  now,  the  head  servant  in  the  great  household 
of  the  world,  the  employer  of  all  employed,  because  her  serv- 
ice will  be  the  most  and  the  ablest," 

IV.    The  New  Life  of  Knowledge 

Our  age  is  the  age  of  invention  and  of  general  intelligence. 
Science  has  developed  the  arts  that  furnish  our  living  more 
than  any  words  can  detail.  Remember,  for  instance,  the  dull 
monotony  of  the  millenniums  through  which  the  primitive 
methods  of  making  spinning  yarn  out  of  wool  and  flax  con- 
tinued. These  were  in  use  in  our  homes  as  late  as  the  out- 
break of  the  Revolutionary  War.  The  spindle  and  the  distaff 
used  by  the  daughters  of  Abraham  and  Moses  were  like  those 
in  our  own  homes  till  lately.  Now  consider  the  volume  of 
machine-woven  fabrics.  It  is  said  that  there  was  not  an  iron 
plow  in  the  world  ninety  years  ago.  Consider  the  steam 
plows  of  to-day,  and  with  them  the  seed-drills  and  the  com- 
bined harvesters.  Give  but  a  swift  glance  at  the  thousands  of 
other  inventions  that  have  revolutionized  our  outward  living; 
at  the  electric  motors,  and  automobiles,  and  aeroplanes,  and 
telephones,  and  wireless  telegraphs.  Men  now  talk  from  Balti- 
more to  Chicago,  and  from  one  side  of  the  Atlantic  to  the 
other  by  wireless  telegraph ;  and  this  statement  will  doubtless 
be  out  of  date  before  it  is  printed.  In  our  homes  we  have 
fireless  cookers,  and  electric  lights,  electrical  stoves,  brooms, 
flat-irons,  and  washing  machines.  We  have  long  distance 
telephones,  and  talking-machines,  and  automatic  music.  When 
we  travel  we  go  swiftly  and  comfortably  in  steam  cars  or 


THE  SENIOR'S  WORLD  215 

trolle5^s  or  luxurious  boats.  We  soar  through  the  air  by  great 
bridges,  and  burrow  through  mountains  and  under  waters  by 
tunnels. 

We  write  letters  everywhere,  the  whole  world  being  one 
in  the  postal  union.  There  are  60,144  post-offices  in  this  coun- 
try, with  two-cent  postage  everywhere  within  it,  and  to  Great 
Britain  and  Germany  without.  There  are  22,603  newspapers 
published  here,  and  great  numbers  of  books.  One  cent  buys 
a  wonder  of  a  daily  paper,  and  the  best  of  books  are  to  be 
had  at  low  prices.  The  cost  of  a  Bible,  with  commentary, 
was  from  $150  to  $250  in  the  year  1274,  though  in  1240  two 
arches  of  London  bridge  were  built  for  $125.  In  1272  the 
wages  of  a  laboring  man  were  less  than  four  cents  a  day.  At 
this  time  the  price  of  a  Bible  was  about  $180.  At  that  rate  a 
laborer  must  toil  for  thirteen  years  to  earn  enough  to  possess 
a  copy  of  the  Scriptures. 

The  science  of  medicine  has  been  revolutionized  so  that 
we  are  now  looking  forward  to  the  entire  abolition  of  disease. 
Antisepsis,  skin-grafting,  and  blood  transfusion  are  the  com- 
mon-places of  medical  practice.  We  have  seen  the  death 
rate  from  tuberculosis  reduced  49%  since  1880,  and  millions 
of  money  are  spent  in  fighting  it.  In  the  same  period  we  have 
seen  typhoid  fever  lose  44%  of  its  death  rate,  and  diphtheria 
80%.  The  death  rate  from  diphtheria  was  reduced  more  than 
half  in  the  ten  years  from  1890  to  1900.  The  triumphs  of  an- 
tiseptic surgery  are  too  numerous  and  marvelous  to  compre- 
hend. 

We  have  over  17,000,000  of  pupils  in  our  common  schools, 
taught  by  almost  half  a  million  teachers.  These  schools  are 
free  to  all,  and  besides  these  there  are  high  schools,  business, 
normal,  music,  and  many  other  schools,  and  hundreds  of  col- 
leges. Any  one  who  will  may  be  educated  in  this  great  coun- 
try, and  multitudes  are  securing  college  education  who  are 
without  money  or  moneyed  friends.  Our  scholars  and  au- 
thors and  statesmen  and  other  leaders  are  coming  freely  from 
the  common  ranks,  and  the  world  wonders. 

3 


2i6       THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

V.    Inspiration  and  Interest 

All  these  considerations  are  but  a  scattering  few  of  the 
great  number  that  the  teacher  may  use.  Seniors  are  never 
indifferent  to  descriptions  of  the  world  that  is  beckoning  them, 
and  their  teacher  can  not  afford  to  be  indifferent  to  it.  It 
furnishes  him  with  one  of  his  most  effective  appeals,  and  is 
as  interesting  as  it  is  inspiring.  The  live  teacher 
with  Power  makes  a  constant  study  of  current  events,  and 
generally  gathers  and  sorts  newspaper  clippings 
for  class  use.  They  never  fail  to  arouse  interest,  and  they 
enhance  respect  for  the  teacher  as  well ;  for  seniors  are 
peculiarly  appreciative  of  men  and  things  that  are  "up  to 
date."  Many  a  teacher  has  found  the  newspaper  a  valuable 
commentary  on  the  Bible  with  his  class,  and  has  thereby 
solved  most  of  his  class  problems  at  once. 

A  high  destiny  held  before  young  people  generally  charms 
them.  That  teacher  who  knows  how  to  make  them  under- 
stand that  they  are  the  heirs  of  all  the  bygone  ages,  and  that 
they  are  standing  "in  the  foremost  files  of  time,"  can  com- 
mand them.  The  question  that  thrilled  that  princess  among 
adolescents,  the  Jewish  Esther,  "Who  knoweth  whether  thou 
art  not  come  to  the  kingdom  for  such  a  time  as  this?"  has 
thrilled  many  another  adolescent  when  the  glories  of  the 
coming  kingdom  have  been  unfolded  before  him. 

Lesson  Outline: 

I.   The  Christian  Motive. 
II.   The  Inspiration  of  Opportunity. 
HI.    Our  National  Birthright. 
IV.   The  New  Life  of  Knowledge. 
V.    Inspiration  and  Interest. 

Topics  for  Special  Study: 

1.  The  Christian  motive  according  to  Christ. 

2.  The  awakening  of  ambition  and  purpose  in  the  minds 

of  great  Americans  as  shown  in  their  biographies. 

3 


THE  SENIOR'S  WORLD  217 

Topics  for  Class  Discussion: 

1.  What  is  the  proper  place  of  the  joy  of  pardon  in 

Christian  experience? 

2.  Is    it    safe    to    take    Christ's    estimates    of    spiritual 

things  ? 

3.  Why  should  a  teacher  give  attention  to  his  pupils' 

future  ? 

4.  Why   do   opportunities   differ   so   much   in   different 

countries  ? 

5.  What    country    offers    the    highest    inducement    to 

young  people? 

6.  What  use  can  the  teacher  make  of  world  facts? 

7.  What  use  can  the  teacher  make  of  current  events? 

8.  How  did  it  happen  that  science  blossomed  so  fast 

in  our  age? 

9.  What  is  the  highest  Christian  motive? 


CHAPTER  XVI 

BENEVOLENCE  AND  SERVICE 


CHAPTER  XVI 
BENEVOLENCE  AND  SERVICE 

I.    Horizons  of  Thought  and  Purpose 

Marvelous  as  are  the  material  and  commercial  expansions 
of  our  day,  the  horizons  of  thought  and  purpose  have  widened 
much  more  rapidly.  The  common  people  have  come  to 
think  like  kings.  They  are  sitting  in  judgment 
Our  Age  ^  upon  the  deeds  of  governors  and  presidents  and 
•J^^A^^  ^"  emperors.  And  these  rulers  are  regarding  the 
people  closely,  for  the  ultimate  power  is  with 
them,  and  what  they  will  they  do.  Men  still  toil,  but  they 
are  not  submerged  in  their  labor. 

The  Russian  cathedral  at  Kiev  is  of  great  splendor.  Its 
walls  are  covered  with  plaques  of  gold  and  silver.  Its  images 
are  enshrined  in  richly  jeweled  frames  of  gold,  and  before 
them  hang  hundreds  of  tiny  lamps  gleaming  like  multicolored 
jewels.  But  deep  down  beneath  this  magnificent  structure 
there  are  miles  of  subterranean  corridors,  lined  with  cells, 
in  which  fifteen  hundred  ascetics  perform  their  daily  devotions 
and  duties.  They  eat,  sleep,  and  live  in  the  midst  of  the 
bones  of  their  dead  ancestors.  For  a  short  time  each  day  they 
ramble  in  the  beautiful  gardens  surrounding  the  cathedral, 
only  to  return  from  the  fugitive  glimpse  of  paradise  to  the 
dark,  damp  cellars  where  they  live  their  death  in  life.  The 
time  was  when  the  lives  of  us  common  folks  was  a  good 
deal  like  that  burial  of  the  monks  at  Kiev.  There  was  little 
of  opportunity  or  knowledge  or  joy  for  the  mass  of  men. 
But  now  all  who  wish  may  come  up  out  of  the  catacombs 
into  the  gardens  and  stay  there.  They  may  live  in  the  sun- 
light and  find  ennobling  work  to  do  for  God  and  man,  no 

221  ' 


222        THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

matter  how  they  have  to  earn  their  daily  bread.  The  souls 
of  men  have  been  emancipated. 

Contrast  with  the  underground  mummeries  of  the  monks 
the  experience  of  Ella  Wheeler  Wilcox,  as  she  gave  it  in 
the  Cosmopolitan:  "To  be  a  part  of  God's  great  universe, 
to  be  one  of  His  voices,  to  be  a  worker  and  a  helper,  means 
to  me  the  fullness  of  satisfaction.  I  expected  much  of  Hfe ; 
it  has  given  in  all  ways  more  than  I  expected.  Everything 
has  happened.  I  have  known  loneliness,  discontent,  trouble. 
I  have  waited  years  for  what  I  felt  I  must  obtain  imme- 
diately; yet  for  each  hour  of  pain  I  have  known  three  hours 
of  joy,  and  life  has  been  good,  and  grows  better  as  I  walk 
forward.  Love  has  been  more  loyal  and  lasting,  friendship 
sweeter  and  more  comprehensive,  work  more  enjoyable,  and 
fame,  because  of  its  aid  to  usefulness,  more  satisfying  than 
early  imagination  pictured." 

That  for  which  Jesus  taught  us  to  pray,  and  for  which 

all    Christians    have   prayed    ceaselessly    from   the   beginning, 

the   kingdom    of    God,    is    surely    coming.      This 

The  Coming     explains  the  rapid  enlargement  of  every  field  of 

Kingdom  Usefulness  opening  before  young  people,   and  is 

at  the  same  time  a  prophecy  of  still  greater  things. 

Not  long  ago  a  Chicago  church  addressed  these  two 
questions  to  a  number  of  prominent  men :  "Is  the  Spirit  of 
Christ  more  dominant  in  business,  politics,  and  international 
affairs  than  when  you  entered  public  life?"  and  "Is  it  an 
advantage  or  a  disadvantage  for  a  public  man  to-day  to  be 
known  as  a  professing  Christian?"  Letters  were  received 
from  Vice-President  Sherman,  Gifford  Pinchot,  Speaker  Can- 
non, Norman  Hapgood,  Senator  Dolliver,  Governor  Deneen, 
Woodrow  Wilson,  David  Starr  Jordan,  and  John  G.  Shedd. 
Their  opinions  were  unanimous  that  the  Spirit  of  Christ  is  a 
greater  force  now  than  formerly. 

Part  of  Vice-President  Sherman's  reply  reads:  "I  hate 
to  believe,  and  I  do  not  believe,  that  it  is  a  disadvantage  to 
any  man  in  any  calling  to  be  a  professing   Christian.     My 


BENEVOLENCE  AND  SERVICE  223 

belief,  based  on  observation  and  experience,  is,  that  even  those 
who  scoff,  beneath  that  exterior  have  a  genuine  respect  for 
the  man  who  professes  Christianity  and  leads  a  Christian  life." 
Speaker  Cannon  wrote,  *'I  believe  that  the  world  is  growing 
better,  and  that  the  Spirit  of  the  Master  has  more  influence 
in  politics  and  business  than  ever  before."  Senator  Dolliver 
calls  attention  to  the  fact  that  there  has  been  great  improve- 
ment in  the  morals  of  our  public  men,  and  says  that  many 
of  the  habits  of  the  public  men  of  the  times  of  Clay  and 
Webster  would  not  be  tolerated  now.  Secretary  Wilson  thinks 
the  great  progress  in  the  substitution  of  international  arbi- 
tration for  war  is  a  sign  of  the  remarkable  advance  of  the 
Spirit  of  Jesus  in  the  world. 

Lyman  Abbott  says :  "When  I  entered  active  life  half 
this  nation  was  in  slavery — it  is  now  free;  the  public  school 
system  was  confined  to  about  half  the  states  in  the  Union — 
it  is  now  carried  on  in  every  state,  with  provision  for  black 
and  white  alike;  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  was 
just  coming  into  being — it  is  now  an  organization  extending 
all  over  the  world,  and  everywhere  acting  vigorously  and 
efficiently  in  the  promotion  of  the  Christian  spirit  and  in 
the  inculcation  of  Christian  principles;  the  home  missionary 
work,  the  foreign  missionary  work,  the  social  settlements 
in  our  great  cities  and  towns  have  greatly  increased  within 
the  last  fifty  years." 

President  Woodrow  Wilson  writes :  "It  is  my  clear  con- 
viction that  Christ's  teachings  are  making  actual  progress 
in  the  world.  While  it  is  probably  true  that  Christianity  in 
its  older  dogmatic  forms  has  less  hold  on  the  people  of  our 
own  day  than  it  had  upon  those  of  earlier  generations,  the 
real  Spirit  of  Christ,  translated  into  terms  of  service  and 
personal  devotion,  seems  to  me  to  be  in  our  day  perhaps 
more  widespread  and  dominant  than  ever  before,  and  it  is 
surely  that  at  bottom  which  is  tending  to  purify  our  politics 
and  our  business  and  to  put  international  affairs  upon  a 
permanent    footing   of   peace.     It    is    unquestionably    an    ad- 


224        THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

vantage,  and  a  great  advantage,  for  a  public  man  to  be  known 
as  a  professing  Christian.  My  own  feeling  in  regard  to  this 
whole  matter  is  one  of  great  and  confident  hope." 

All  the  elements  of  a  successful  appeal  to  young  men 
and  women  are  furnished  by  the  present  conditions  of  the 
progress  of  the  kingdom  of  Christ.  The  crying  needs,  the 
successes  of  the  past,  the  enthusiasm  of  humanity, 
Appeal  ^^^    grandeur    of    the    cause,    the    providence    of 

God,  which  guides  the  workers  and  the  work 
and  insures  the  service  of  the  greatest  and  the  humblest — 
these  are  some  of  the  things  that  the  senior  teacher  may 
use  in  engaging  the  lives  of  his  pupils  in  the  service  of 
Christ.  If  he  studies  the  progress  of  the  kingdom  as  he 
ought,  if  he  knows  what  is  going  on  in  this  wonderful  world, 
if  he  catches  the  divine  vision  of  service  and  reward  him- 
self, he  can  not  fail  to  show  it  to  others  and  to  fire  them 
with  a  quenchless  zeal  to  make  their  lives  count  mightily 
in  the  great  conflict.  Looking  over  the  past,  it  is  not  strange 
that  we  have  won  no  more  of  the  young  people  than  we 
have,  for  we  have  lived  in  too  small  a  world  ourselves. 
We  have  made  too  many  observations  upon  clothes  and 
feathers  and  horses  and  dollars,  and  too  few  upon  the  great 
things  that  lie  all  about  us  in  the  world. 

Augustine  discovered  at  a  critical  period  in  his  own  life 
that  God  had  made  his  soul  for  Himself,  and  that  conse- 
quently nothing  but  God  could  satisfy  that  soul.  The  same 
is  true  of  us  all.  God  has  made  our  hearts  for  Himself  and 
for  the  large  things  of  His  large  world.  What  wonder  that 
little  things  fail  to  win  and  to  satisfy  them?  We  have  made 
the  mistake  of  supposing  that  religious  joy  is  the  highest  appeal 
that  can  be  made  to  a  young  person.  It  is  not  even  a  strong 
appeal,  for  it  is  not  an  end  in  itself.  The  inward  craving 
is  for  the  use  of  God-given  powers  in  service,  and  nothing 
else  will  take  the  place  of  this. 

The  teacher's  task  is  to  open  the  world  before  the  pupil, 
to   show  him  the  great   movements   of  consecrated   activity, 


BENEVOLENCE  AND  SERVICE  225 

to  arouse  his  latent  enthusiasm,  and  to  help  him  to  find  his 
place  in  the  marching  lines.  To  do  this  the  teacher  must 
be  a  student  himself,  of  course;  but  what  else  should  he 
expect?  He  must  have  his  own  grand  conception  of  the 
service  of  Christ ;  and  what  else  does  he  wish  ?  It  is  enough 
that  the  kingdom  is  rich  in  material  for  study,  and  that  he 
has  the  opportunity  for  learning. 

II.    Much  Land  to  be  Possessed 

Jehovah  promised  to  Israel  as  much  of  the  land  of  Canaan 
as  they  should  conquer  for  themselves.  They  must  set  the 
soles  of  their  feet  upon  the  ground  before  it  could  be  theirs, 
God  was  not  going  to  fight  their  battles  for  them. 
Has  ju^f  *"*  This  is  why  they  never  got  it  all.  The  spiritual 
Begun  Canaan  can  be  possessed  only  in  the  same  way. 

We  must  conquer  all  of  it  that  we  get.  There  is 
another  side  to  the  rosy  view  of  the  glories  of  our  age.  The 
world  is  still  wicked  and  dangerous;  so  distinctly  thus  that 
many  good  people  refuse  to  take  even  a  hopeful  view  of 
things.  There  are  woes  and  sufferings  and  privations  and 
outrages  and  crimes  and  corruptions  seething  all  around  us. 
The  conflict  of  the  ages  is  not  over.  The  call  for  martyrs 
is  not  hushed :  many  more  must  shed  their  blood  before  the 
truth  can  emancipate  the  world.  The  cross  has  not  been 
taken  out  of  the  world :  it  is  still  presented  to  him  who 
would  deny  himself  for  the  following  of  Christ.  The  service 
of  the  young  is  as  sorely  needed  to-day  as  service  has  ever 
been  needed  in  all  the  past. 

Take  the  crusade  against  the  liquor  traffic,  for  example. 
The  gains  for  temperance  in  recent  years  have  been  as  en- 
couraging as  they  have  been  surprising.     At  the 
The  Temper-    ...  -  ,,       i-  •    ^  ^     1       ji 

ance  Crusade  begmnmg  of  1909  the  liquor  mterests  loudly  pro- 
claimed the  culmination  of  the  "wave"  of  tem- 
perance enthusiasm  and  victory.  But  in  the  ensuing  year 
there  were  substantial  gains  for  prohibition  in  no  less  than 
thirty  different  States.    Four  States  went  for  prohibition  dur- 

•5 


226        THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

ing  1909,  making  nine  in  all,  with  an  area  of  more  than  a 
half-million  square  miles  and  a  total  population  of  more  than 
twelve  millions.  State  prohibition  campaigns  are  in  active 
progress  in  thirteen  other  States,  which  are  expected  to  come 
to  a  vote  within  two  years.  There  are  in  the  United  States 
375  prohibition  cities  of  5,000  population  and  over;  ninety 
of  10,000  and  over;  while  fifty-three  leading  industrial  centers 
in  fourteen  different  States,  of  20,000  population  and  over,  are 
included.  A  World's  Congress  against  alcoholism  has  been 
held  in  London,  at  which  representative  reformers  represent- 
ing fifteen  different  nations  organized  the  first  International 
Prohibition  Federation. 

The  influential  periodicals  are  taking  new  interest  in  the 
cause.  Practically  every  leading  magazine  in  America  has 
contributed  one  or  more  important  studies  of  some  phase 
of  the  prohibition  issue  to  popular  discussion.  A  great  mass 
of  information  and  statistics  has  been  accumulated,  showing 
the  enhanced  business  prosperity  and  the  decrease  of  crime 
under  prohibition  wherever  it  has  gone  into  effect.  But  all 
this  is  but  a  beginning.  The  magnitude  of  the  evil  traffic 
and  its  terrible  power  over  politics  is  realized  only  as  we 
begin  to  fight  it.  The  consumption  of  spirits,  malt  liquors, 
and  wines  in  this  country  in  1908  reached  the  appalling  total 
of  2,006,233,408  gallons,  as  against  2,019,690,911  gallons  the 
previous  year,  up  to  which  time  it  had  been  swelling  steadily 
every  year.  Nearly  seven  millions  of  gallons  of  wines  were 
imported  in  1909,  which  is  more  than  ever  before.  There  was 
a  decrease  of  135  drinking  places  in  New  York  City  last  year, 
but  10,675  still  remain  to  debauch  our  boys  and  young  men, 
to  impoverish  families,  to  corrupt  politics,  and  to  poison 
society  generally. 

We  are  encouraged  at  the  progress  of  peace,  in  which 
holy  cause  some  of  the  best  men  and  women  of  the  world 
are  engaged  under  the  banner  of  the  Prince  of  Peace.  They 
have  done  wonders  against  the  outbreaking  of  one  of  the 
most  inveterate  of  elemental  passions.    The  barbarities  of  war 


BENEVOLENCE  AND  SERVICE  227 

have  been  mitigated.  Women,  children,  and  prisoners  of  war 
are  no  longer  put  to  death  or  sold  into  slavery.  The  Red 
Cross  Convention  is  accepted  by  all  nations.  Much  territory 
has  been  neutralized,  including  Switzerland,  Bel- 
Against'War  s'^^^>  Luxembourg,  Norway,  Llonduras,  the  Suez 
Canal,  and  the  Straits  of  Magellan.  Organized 
labor  has  been  turned  as  a  unit  against  militarism,  as  have 
the  great  religious  organizations  of  the  world.  For  peace 
education  an  Intercollegiate  Peace  Society  has  been  organized, 
in  which  forty-seven  colleges  and  universities  are  affiliated. 
More  than  sixty  arbitration  treaties  have  been  concluded,  and 
the  Second  Hague  Conference  has  laid  the  foundations  of 
a  permanent  High  Court  of  Nations. 

It  is  proclaimed  abroad  that  one  big  cannon-shot  costs 
$1,700,  which  is  three  and  two-thirds  of  a  workingman's 
yearly  wages,  and  five  and  one-third  years  of  a  female  school- 
teacher's salary,  as  much  as  a  workingman's  house,  or  a 
college  education  at  $425  a  year;  that  a  big  battleship  costs 
$10,000,000,  and  a  million  a  year  to  keep  it  up,  and  in  about 
ten  years  goes  to  the  scrap  pile;  that  the  armed  peace  of 
Europe  in  the  last  thirty-seven  years  has  cost  at  least  $111,- 
000,000,000,  which  almost  equals  the  entire  wealth  of  the 
United  States ;  that  our  country  spends  sixty-seven  and  a 
half  per  cent  of  her  entire  revenue  (exclusive  of  postal  re- 
ceipts) for  wars  past  and  prospective,  which  equals  the  ex- 
penditures for  education  of  all  grades,  public  and  private; 
that  probably  15,000,000,000  lives  have  been  sacrificed  in  wars 
since  the  beginning  of  authentic  history,  and  more  than  14,- 
000,000  during  the  nineteenth  century;  that  like  the  ancient 
duel  war  does  not  decide  moral  issues ;  and,  in  the  words 
of  John  Hay,  "War  is  the  most  futile  and  ferocious  of  human 
follies." 

And  yet  the  unspeakable  waste  goes  on.  Great  Britain  will 
spend  about  $240,000,000  on  war  supplies  this  year.  Our 
country  will  spend  about  $220,000,000,  besides  $162,000,000 
for   pensions.      Germany   is    spending   over   $300,000,000,    and 

s 


228       THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

France  over  $110,000,000.  Never  was  a  case  more  clear  than 
that  these  frightful  expenditures  ought  at  once  to  cease,  and 
yet  the  war  fever  rages.  Tkere  is  a  loud  call  for  help  from 
the  new  generation  here. 

These  are  but  illustrations  of  the  crying  needs  that  cluster 
everywhere  about  us.  There  are  all  kinds  of  service  for 
all  kinds  of  talent.  Nothing  in  the  way  of  human  ability 
need  go  to  waste  in  our  age.  No  man  needs  to  stand  all 
day  idle  in  the  market-place.  It  is  the  teacher's  privilege 
to  find  the  facts  and  show  them  to  his  pupils.  Great  is  the 
power  of  facts.  It  is  as  true  to-day  as  it  was  in  Isaiah's 
day  that  "My  people  are  gone  into  captivity  for  lack  of 
knowledge."  There  is  nothing  more  needful  nor  practical 
for  the  Sunday-school  teacher  than  this  line  of  study  and 
work  with  his  class. 

III.    The  Teaching  of  Giving 

One  of  the  distinctive  forms  of  human  service  is  benevo- 
lent giving.  Some  one  has  called  money  the  greatest  of 
human  inventions.  It  is  certainly  a  marvel,  considered  in 
its  varied  concentrations  and  powers.  We  can 
The  Service  often  send  ourselves  in  sending  our  earnings,  and 
Benevolence  "^^  ^^^  ^^  ^^  means  of  our  money  what  we 
could  not  do  otherwise.  One  great  lesson  that 
the  teacher  of  seniors  must  inculcate  is  that  of  Christian 
giving — conscientious,  regular,  and  intelligent  giving.  He  can 
do  this,  first,  by  appealing  to  the  primary  teachings  of  Christ 
and  of  those  who  have  followed  Him.  He  can  show  what 
Christian  benevolence  has  done  in  the  world,  and  how  the 
beneficent  spirit  is  growing  with  the  growth  of  the  other 
virtues.  The  teacher  will  find  this  an  interesting  as  well 
as  a  valuable  study.  He  will  find  himself  able  to  show  his 
pupils  a  new  birth  of  benevolence  in  their  age.  This  is 
the  generation  of  great  givers  and  great  gifts,  as  well  as  of 
smaller  and  widespread  giving. 

There  is  not  space  in  this  chapter   for   detailed  illustra- 


BENEVOLENCE  AND  SERVICE  229 

tions,  and  we  will  only  adduce  a  few  figures  as  condensed 
and  eloquent  expressions  of  what  is  going  on.  The  large 
benefactions  of  the  year  just  closed  (1909)  amounted  to  the 
enormous  total  sum  of  $358,000,000,  which  was  far  beyond 
that  of  the  previous  year,  and  marks  a  new  epoch  in  the 
Christian  ages.  Education  came  first  in  the  amount  received, 
and  the  dependent  classes  next.  John  Stewart  Kennedy  gave 
$30,000,000,  and  Mr.  Rockefeller  nearly  $14,000,000.  The 
latter's  gifts  to  popular  education  now  aggregate  one  hun- 
dred millions,  and  those  of  Mr,  Carnegie  exceed  this  enormous 
sum.  Daniel  K.  Pearson  has  given  large  sums  to  small 
colleges,  and  announces  that  he  is  going  to  give  away  his 
last  million  this  year  to  educational  and  philanthropic  insti- 
tutions, leaving  himself  relatively  a  poor  man  when  he  cele- 
brates his  ninetieth  birthday.  Andrew  Carnegie  has  given 
nearly  six  millions  in  all  to  the  New  York  library.  Nothing 
speaks  louder  as  to  the  importance  and  the  hopefulness  of  the 
education   of  our  youth  than  these   princely   donations. 

Edward  Ginn  has  given  a  million  dollars  to  promote 
the  cause  of  universal  peace.  A  large  and  increasing  number 
of  lovers  of  humanity  are  coming  forward  with  their  gifts 
for  all  kinds  of  worthy  causes  at  home  and  abroad.  The 
Churches  are  giving  more  for  the  support  of  the  gospel  at 
home  and  in  the  mission  fields  than  ever  before,  and  they 
have  taken  up  a  long  line  of  philanthropic  causes  not  under 
their  immediate  control.  There  never  was  a  time  when  a 
rich  man's  million  or  a  poor  man's  dime  was  worth  as  much 
as  to-day.  Social  organizations,  charity  organizations,  benevo- 
lent societies,  educational  institutions,  missions,  and  kindred 
enterprises  make  it  possible  for  one  to  place  a  dollar  almost 
anywhere  in  the  world  at  little  or  no  expense  to  do  almost 
any  desired  kind  of  work.  Benevolence  is  but  another  name 
for  the  Christ-spirit — that  brotherly  love  which  extends  to 
all  men  and  prompts  us  to  service  on  the  basis  of  a  common 
humanity. 

The  teacher  of  seniors  should  reserve  a  large   space   for 


230        THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

developing  this  incomparable  grace.  It  lies  directly  in  his 
path  and  is  an  essential  element  in  a  round  Christian  char- 
acter. 

Lesson  Outline: 

I.    Horizons  of  Thought  and  Purpose. 
II.   Much  Land  to  be  Possessed. 
III.   The  Teaching  of  Giving. 

Topics  for  Special  Study: 

1.  The  significance  of  the  rise  of  the  common  people. 

2.  Evidences  of  the  Spirit  of  Christ  in  modern  world 

life. 

Topics  foi'  Class  Discussion: 

1.  What   expansions    do   w^e   observe   in   the   world    of 

thought  ? 

2.  What  social  and  moral  expansions  in  our  day? 

3.  The  tokens  of  the  coming  of  Christ's  kingdom. 

4.  What  appeals  may  be  made  to  youth  to  enlist  in  the 

Master's  service? 

5.  What  can  the   ordinary  young   person   do   for   the 

world? 

6.  How  does  the  temperance  crusade  illustrate  present 

conditions  ? 

7.  How  teach  systematic  giving, 

8.  What  are  the  motives  for  benevolence? 

9.  Modern  facilities  for  utilizing  the  fruits  of  benevo- 

lence. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

CLASS  ORGANIZATION 


CHAPTER  XVII 
CLASS  ORGANIZATION 

I.    The  New  Sunday-school 

The  subject  of  class  organization  takes  us  back  to  the 
underlying  conception  of  the  Sunday-school.  If  we  ask  what 
a  class  is  and  why  it  should  be  organized,  the  answer  will 
depend  upon  what  a  Sunday-school  is  and  what  its  classes 
should  be  if  the  school  is  to  fulfill  its  ideal.  There  may 
be  argument  as  to  what  constitutes  a  school,  but  when  this 
is  settled  there  can  be  no  argument  as  to  what  its  classes  must 
be.  The  greater  carries  the  less  with  it  here  as  always.  It 
may  be  that  some  will  insist  upon  a  theory  of  the  school  which 
fairly  dispenses  with  the  idea  of  class  organization.  Such  a 
theory  of  the  school  has  widely  prevailed  in  the  past  and  is 
common  to-day.  In  this  case  our  plea  is  frankly  for  a  new 
theory  of  the  school.  Our  new  age  demands  a  new  Sunday- 
school. 

Indeed,  there  have  been  several  theories  of  the  Sunday- 
school.  The  Raikes  school  was  a  charity  school  for  teaching 
the  rudiments  of  general  knowledge.  It  had  more  to  do 
with  reading  and  spelling  and  such  things  than 
Theories  ^^    ^^^    ^^^^    ^^^    Bible.      This    theory    of    the 

school  is  nearly  obsolete,  though  it  is  a  curious 
fact  that  it  still  lives  in  part.  In  evidence  thereof  this  writer 
can  say  that  when  he  began  work  in  the  Sunday-school 
as  a  child  his  "Sunday-school  Primer"  began  with  the  alpha- 
bet and  went  on  with  writing  and  spelling  and  reading 
and  number  exercises,  which  occupied  most  of  the  book. 
There  was  but  very  little  of  religious  instruction  in  it.  In 
fact,  he  learned  to  read  from  this  self-same  primer.  Further- 
more, he  has  recently  seen  the  same  book  on  sale  with  the 

233  3 


234        THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

rich  line  of  modern  Sunday-school  books  in  a  New  York 
bookstore  and  is  informed  that  it  is  selling  still. 

After  many  years  this  first  theory  of  the  Smiday-school 
was  generally  displaced  by  the  theological-school  theory.  The 
Sunday-school  was  used  to  teach  formal  theology.  The  cate- 
chism was  introduced,  with  its  ponderous  and  sometimes 
(from  the  viewpoint  of  the  child)  preposterous  definitions. 
The  end  of  the  instruction  was  the  memorizing  of  these 
formulas  and  of  "proof  texts"  from  the  Scriptures,  which 
were  more  or  less  applicable  to  the  technical  theological 
terms  introduced.  There  was  little  or  no  attempt  to  cause 
the  child  to  understand  these  chilly  propositions.  A  volume 
might  be  filled  with  the  laughable  blunders  which  the  little 
victims  perpetrated  in  vain  attempts  to  make  them  mean 
something.  These  have  made  a  distinct  contribution  to  funny- 
column  literature,  though  they  were  more  lamentable  than 
funny.  But  with  the  old  idea  of  the  magical  potency  of  the 
Scriptures  it  was  apparently  deemed  unnecessary  for  the 
child  to  understand  them  very  much.  If  he  learned  their 
words  so  as  to  repeat  them  they  would  operate  upon  him 
by  a  sort  of  spiritual  cabalism  and  he  would  be  duly  blessed. 
But  advancing  intelligence  has  discredited  this  theory  of  the 
Sunday-school,  except  in  the  remote  corners  and  among  re- 
actionary communions. 

The  too  prevalent  theory  now  is  that  the  Sunday- 
school  is  the  children's  Church.  We  are  aware  that 
this  is  an  offensive  term  to  most  people,  but  it  fairly 
describes  the  school  in  fact.  Most  of  our  schools  are  pro- 
gramed after  the  manner  of  the  standard  Church  service. 
They  have  their  opening  hymns,  perhaps  with  choir  and  organ 
or  piano,  their  responsive  Psalm,  their  Creed  recitation,  their 
prayers,  their  Bible  exposition,  more  hymns,  the  regular  col- 
lection, the  notices,  and  the  benediction  in  closing.  Then, 
having  had  their  Church,  the  children  go  home,  as  a  matter 
of  course,  in  spite  of  the  misgivings  of  their  parents  and  the 
grief  of  the  pastor.    It  may  be  said,  in  justice  to  this  theory 


CLASS    ORGANIZATION  235 

of  the  school,  that  it  makes  the  service  varied  and  inter- 
esting, and  the  Bible  is  far  more  profitably  taught  than  in 
the  old  days  of  the  theological  Sunday-school. 

There  is  another  theory — that  of  the  Bible  school, 
according    to    which    the    primary    aim    is    the    teaching    of 

^,  ^,  ,  the  Bible,  with  lessons  and  home  study,  and 
The  Church  v  .•  j  .     .  j  .-  t^i-     .t. 

Bible  School     recitations,  and  tests  and  promotions.     This  the- 
ory, greatly  to  be  preferred  to  any  other,  obtains 
in  some  Churches,  and  is   destined  to  be   in  the   future  the 
prevailing  ideal. 

It  is  being  recognized  that  the  Church  and  society  at 
large  imperatively  need  the  aid  of  the  Sunday-school  in 
training  the  young,  both  to  be  Christians  and  to  be  moral. 
Under  present  conditions  the  home  and  the  State  school  are 
unable  to  accomplish  this  of  themselves.  Beyond  the  learn- 
ing of  the  Bible  as  a  Book  and  as  literature,  with  all  its 
history  and  philosophy  and  ethics,  there  is  crying  need  of 
consecrated  lives.  The  hearts  of  the  young  must  be  won  to 
God  and  to  goodness,  and  it  is  natural  for  precept  and  prac- 
tice to  go  together.  The  Sunday-school  teacher  is  a  valu- 
able, an  indispensable  social  factor  in  this,  for  he  can  help 
himself  to  teach  the  truth  by  helping  his  pupils  put  it  into 
active  practice  in  the  social  world  in  which  they  live.  Out 
of  this  feeling  is  growing  the  Sunday-school  which  seeks  to 
do  something  while  it  is  learning  something  and  to  learn 
principles  by  doing  the  things  that  they  naturally  imply. 

II.    Four  Leading  Principles 

There  are  at  least  four  principles  which  have  operated  to 
promote  the  organization  of  classes  in  the  Sunday-school : 
the  work  to  be  done,  the  impulse  to  do  something,  the  limi- 
tations of  the  individual,  and  the  need  of  training  in  service. 

As  our  eyes  are  opened  we  behold  the  great  field  of  service 
The  Work  lying  all  about  us.  There  is  no  community  nor 
to  be  Done  any  section  of  a  community  where  people  do 
not   need   help   of   some   kind.     It    may   be   that    they   have 

3 


236       THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

enough  of  this  world's  goods  but  are  among  the  poorest 
spiritually.  There  are  always  those  to  be  found  who  are 
socially  neglected  or  morally  untutored,  especially  among 
children  and  young  people.  It  seems  wrong  to  leave  this 
work  undone,  even  though  our  Sunday-school  scholars  are 
still  undergraduates.  They  have  time  for  work  and  can 
do  it. 

Then,  they  have  the  impulse  to  do  it.  We  are  not  made 
to   get   for  a   while  and  then  to   give   the   rest  of  the   time. 
Though  this  principle  may  be  acted  upon,  it  is  no  less   ab- 
normal and  wrong.    We  are  made  both  to  receive 
The  Impulse  ,  .  n,,-  itt  i  -i 

to  Do  It  ^^^  ^^  ^"^^  ^^^  ^"^  time.     We  grow  by  nourish- 

ment and  by  exercise.  The  lack  of  exercise  is 
as  fatal  to  health  as  the  lack  of  food.  Teachers  need  never 
fear  to  give  their  scholars  something  to  do.  The  disorder 
in  our  classes  is  not  due  to  hard  lessons :  in  most  cases  it 
is  due  to  too  easy  requirements.  The  teacher  must  take 
account  of  the  child's  active  powers  as  well  as  his  recep- 
tivities.    Right  education  gives  truth,  but  it  gives  tasks  also. 

A  recent  writer  on  boys  says :  **The  Church,  and  even 
educationists,  have  not  yet  realized  what  the  pent-up  energy 
of  boy-life  means.  It  means  power.  Boulton,  the  partner  of 
James  Watt,  the  inventor  of  steam  engines,  was  showing 
Dr.  Johnson  over  their  works  at  Birmingham.  He  said, 
'We  sell  here  what  all  the  world  desires — power.'  There 
was  as  much  steam  energy  latent  in  the  world  two  hundred 
years  ago  as  there  is  to-day.  Then  nothing  moved  by  steam. 
Now  hundreds  of  tons  of  cars  are  sent  hurling  along  our 
railroads,  Mauretanias  and  Dreadnoughts  go  forging  across 
the  seas,  and  dense  populations  are  supported  by  the  mills 
which  steam  keeps  moving.  This  has  been  done  by  men 
who  understood  the  force ;  they  have  brought  it  to  a  point 
and  used  it.  Steam  may  fizz  away  in  a  thousand  kettles  and 
wash-boilers,  but  not  till  man  takes  it  and  controls  and  directs 
it  can  it  be  of  use.  We  can  not  do  much  with  boys  until 
we  can  control  them.     To  understand  this  is  the  first  thing. 


CLASS   ORGANIZATION  237 

In  controlling  boys  there  is  one  great  principle  to  be  borne 
in  mind— the  boy  is  always  hungry.  He  has  a  hunger  for 
many  things  besides  food.  Here  are  a  number  of  them: 
(i)  The  hunger  to  know— curiosity ;  (2)  the  hunger  for  com- 
panionship—the social  instinct;  (3)  the  hunger  to  follow  a 
leader — loyalty;  (4)  the  hunger  for  adventure — courage;  (5) 
the  hunger  to  struggle  and  to  win — combativeness ;  (6)  the 
hunger  to  protect  and  help  the  weak — chivalry;  (7)  the 
hunger  to  possess — ownership ;  (8)  the  hunger  for  affection 
— love;  (9)  the  hunger  for  God — the  religious  instinct;  (10) 
the  hunger  for  making  things — the  constructive  instinct;  (11) 
the  hunger  to  test  an  action  by  doing  it — imitation;  (12)  the 
hunger  to  excel  his  fellows — emulation;  (13)  the  hunger  for 
fairness — justice.  These  instincts  are  strong.  From  the 
teacher's  point  of  view  they  are  the  most  important  things 
in  a  boy's  nature,  for  it  is  by  his  hunger  that  we  may  easily 
control  him." 

We  have  cited  this  authority  at  length  because  it  is  an 
illumination  of  the  question  of  class  organization — as  well 
as  of  other  things.  The  old  conception  of  a  boy  as  a  simple, 
passive  receptacle  is  entirely  discredited.  All  efforts  to  con- 
trol him  on  this  theory,  saying  nothing  about  anything  further, 
have  naturally  failed.  Children  and  young  people  are  in- 
stinct with  life  and  eager  to  spend  their  vital  forces  upon 
some  worthy  objective,  even  while  they  are  learning  to  live. 
Class  organization  affords  a  means  of  enlisting  and  occupy- 
ing these  valuable  powers. 

In  the  third  place,  it  has  pleased  God  to  make  us  Im- 
perfect, in  the  sense  of  partial  endowment.  No  one  has  all 
the  talents,  and  the  world  needs  all  the  talents.  We  can  not 
work  to  advantage  alone.  We  must  supplement 
The  Limita-  g^^]^  other.  One  man  has  skill,  another  capital, 
Individual^  another  experience;  then  the  three  are  made  per- 
fect in  one.  Each,  working  alone,  would  fail; 
all,  working  together,  succeed.  In  a  Sunday-school  class  each 
pupil  may  contribute  his  natural  part,  and  the  teacher  may 


238       THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

wisely  gather  all  and  correlate  them  and  direct  them  and 
apply  them,  so  that  the  whole  violates,  or  rather  transcends, 
the  mathematical  axiom  and  is  much  more  than  the  sum 
of  all  the  parts. 

Finally,  the  young  need  to  be  trained  in  service.  It  is 
not  safe  to  trust  important  things  with  tyros.  Tyros  should 
be  drilled   and  exercised   until  they  cease  to  be  tyros,   and 

then  they  can  essay  anything.  One  cause  of  the 
Tiaining  failures  of  men  in  the  official  work  of  the  Churcli 

is  their  "greenness"  in  it.  They  should  have  been 
trained  for  their  service  in  youth.  Training  comes  naturally 
to  youth,  but  not  so  to  maturity.  The  young  may  be  taught 
to  do  the  work  that  awaits  them  in  the  Church  with  facility 
and  with  real  zest. 

III.    The  Standard  Class 

From  the  principles  above  dwelt  upon  it  will  not  be 
difficult  to  deduce  the  organization,  with  its  details.  Of 
course  there  may  be  all  degrees  of  organization,  but  in 
practice  there  is  a  standard.  This  has  been 
The  Organ-  £xed  by  the  International  Sunday-school  Asso- 
Bibie  Class  ciation,  in  co-operation  with  denominational  au- 
thorities. This  sets  forth  the  minimum  of  organi- 
zation which  must  be  reached  by  the  class  before  it  shall 
be  entitled  to  official  recognition. 

This   standard   of   organization   requires   three   things : 

(i)  The  class  must  be  organically  connected  with  the 
Sunday-school,  of  which  it  shall  be  considered  an  integral 
part. 

(2)  The  class  shall  have  the  following  officers  at  least: 
teacher,  president,  vice-president,  secretary,  and  treasurer. 
It  shall  also  have  three  standing  committees,  as  follows : 
membership,  devotional,  and  social.  It  is  not  required  that 
they  bear  precisely  these  names,  but  the  class  must  have 
three  committees  which  shall  carry  on  these  three  forms 
of  work. 

3 


CLASS  ORAGANIZATION  239 

(3)  The  class  shall  consist  of  adult  members  only. 

Within  the  last  few  years  the  organization  of  classes  has 
advanced  at  a  remarkable  rate,  and  the  International  Asso- 
ciation has  been  active  in  promoting  and  directing  this.  The 
thousands  of  organized  Adult  Classes  in  this  country  are 
giving  a  new  cast  to  our  whole  work  and  prophesy  great 
things  for  the  future.  In  carefully  going  over  the  various 
problems  presented  by  this  growing  interest,  the  authorities 
have  deemed  it  wise  to  fix  sixteen  years  as  the  minimum 
age  limit  for  the  organization  of  "Adult  Classes."  This  brings 
the  advantages  of  the  standard  organization  within  the  reach 
of  adolescents,  though  we  do  not  count  these  as  adults  at  all. 
The  natural  and  formal  distinction  between  the  senior  and 
adult  departments  of  the  school  is  not  to  be  obliterated  or 
disregarded  in  any  way,  but  this  recognition  given  to  or- 
ganized classes  in  the  senior  department  makes  it  possible 
for  them  to  be  enrolled  with  the  others  and  to  pass  into 
the  adult  organization  without  a  new  registration  when  all 
the  members  of  the  class  have  reached  the  age  of  twenty  years. 

As  soon  as  the  organization  has  been  effected,  application 
should  be  made  for  a  certificate  to  the  Board  of  Sunday- 
schools  in  Chicago,  stating  these  items:  name  of  the  class, 
name  of  the  school,  town  or  city.  State,  names  of  the  officers, 
names  of  the  committees  provided  for,  ages  of  the  oldest 
and  youngest  members,  date  of  organization,  number  of 
members,  class  motto,  name  and  address  of  teacher,  name 
and  address  of  president,  name  and  address  of  person  apply- 
ing for  certificate.  Blanks  for  these  applications  may  be  had 
without  cost  from  the  Board  of  Sunday-schools.  In  response 
to  such  an  application  as  this  the  Board  will  issue  a  certificate 
of  recognition  bearing  the  seals  of  the  Board  of  Sunday- 
schools  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  of  the  Inter- 
national Sunday-school  Association  .together  with  the  signa- 
tures of  the  denominational  and  the  International  executive 
secretaries. 

The  Board  of  Sunday-schools  has  prepared  a  very  valu- 


240       THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

able  leaflet  for  general  distribution  which  contains  iull  direc- 
tions how  to  organize  a  class,  also  a  model  form  of  con- 
stitution for  adoption.  It  also  gives  a  valuable  list 
of  helps  for  this  work.  As  this  leaflet  will  doubt- 
less be  revised  as  often  as  necessary  and  kept  up  to  date, 
it  will  suffice  here  to  refer  students  to  this  admirable  little 
compend,  whose  title  is  "The  Organized  Adult  Bible  Class. "^ 

IV.    The  Larger  Organization 

From  what  has  been  said  it  will  be  inferred  that  the  class 
organization  is  neither  solitary  nor  independent.  It  is  a  part 
of  a  grand  group  of  classes  organized  on  similar  lines  and 
for  the  same  kind  of  work.  These  are  to  be 
The  Adult  found  in  nearly  all  the  Churches  and  in  every 
Movement  ^^^^  °^  ^^^  Protestant  world.  Their  number  is 
rapidly  growing  and  their  influence  is  extending 
beyond  the  Churches  into  our  communities  everywhere.  There 
is  a  growing  literature,  both  of  books  and  periodicals,  de- 
voted to  their  interests,  and  thousands  of  workers  are  zealous 
in  this  new  and  prosperous  movement. 

Not  all  the  classes  in  a  school  may  be  organized,  but  those 
that  are  may  work  together.  The  young  men's  classes  meet 
socially  with  the  young  women's,  and  both  assemble  with 
similar  classes  in  neighboring  Churches.  One  or  more  of  the 
organized  classes  may  unite  for  special  service  in  a  local 
Church.  The  young  men's  classes  of  the  town  or  city  may 
unite  for  work  among  young  men,  the  young  women's  classes 
may  get  together  for  a  common  purpose,  and  the  entire  body 
of  organized  classes  in  a  city  may  federate  for  some  form 
of  public  service.  There  is  a  strong  esprit  de  corps  growing 
up  in  this  country  in  the  organized  class  movement.  It  marks 
a  new  interest,  not  only  in  class  work,  but  in  the  Sunday- 
school,  the  Church,  and  the  social  welfare.     If  this  is  cher- 


1  Copies  of  this  leaflet  may  be  had  free  by  addressing  the  Board  of  Sunday- 
schools,  57  Washington  St.,  Chicago,  111. 


CLASS  ORGANIZATION  241 

ished  and  developed  as  it  may  be,  it  will  prove  of  incalculable 
value  to  the  Churches  and  the  kingdom. 

Lesson  Outline: 

I.   The  New  Sunday-school. 

II.  Four  Leading  Principles. 

III.  The  Standard  Class. 

IV.  The  Larger  Organization. 

Topics  for  Special  Study: 

1.  The  influence  of  organization  upon  class  growth. 

2.  The  organized  Adult  Bible  Class  movement. 

Topics  for  Class  Discussion: 

1.  What  is  a  Sunday-school  for? 

2.  Name  some  historic  forms  of  the  Sunday-school. 

3.  Why  do  not  more  scholars  attend  Church  ? 

4.  What  has  led  to  the  organization  of  classes? 

5.  The  value  of  class  organization  for  the  school. 

6.  The  value  of  class  organization  for  the  pupil. 

7.  Why  do  the  scholars  like  to  organize? 

8.  Give  the  requirements  of  an  organized  Adult  Bible 

Class. 


16 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

WAYS  OF  WORKING 


CHAPTER  XVIII 
WAYS  OF  WORKING 

I.    The  Field  of  Service 

Having  accepted  the  principle  that  the  teaching  of  ado- 
lescents must  be  accompanied  by  doing  things,  and  having 
made  the  class  organization  for  this,  we  have  now  to  inquire 
more  particularly  into  the  kind  of  work  that  may  be  done. 
There  may  be  some  question  as  to  this,  but  we  shall  pro- 
ceed upon  the  supposition  that  the  field  for  class  work  is 
broad,  and  that  any  worthy  work  for  the  class  or  its  members, 
or  for  the  school  as  a  whole,  or  the  Church,  or  the  com- 
munity, or  even  the  world,  is  fairly  within  our  scope.  This 
may  seem  to  open  a  wide  door,  but  the  fact  is  that  the  door 
is  already  open.  The  needs  of  the  world  appeal  to  the  class. 
We  are  teaching  great  principles  that  touch  the  world's  needs, 
and  the  quickened  sympathies  and  appetences  of  our  pupils 
demand  large  and  varied  satisfaction. 

I.  The  way  of  the  Church.  What  our  classes  must 
do  is  governed  by  what  the  school  must  do,  and  this  in 
turn  is  determined  by  what  the  Church  is  doing.  Now,  the 
Church  of  Jesus  Christ  was  established  by  Him  on  the  broad- 
est principles,  and  His  ultimate  aim  is  the  salvation  or  the 
spiritual  renewal  of  the  whole  world.  This  gives  us  a  large 
view  and  a  wide  field.  And  one  of  the  plamest  signs  of 
our  times  is  the  recognition  of  this  world-mission  by  the 
Church.  It  is  affecting  every  activity  of  the  Church.  The 
time  was  when  the  conversion  of  souls  was  about  all  that 
preachers  preached  for  and  singers  sang  for  and  workers 
worked  for :  now  there  are  the  added  agencies  and  enthusi- 

245  ^ 


246       THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

asms  for  the  setting  up  of  the  kingdom  of  Christ  in  the 
earth.  Formerly  we  sought  to  do  temperance  work  by  getting 
drunkards  to  sign  the  pledge :  now  we  are  making  efforts  on 
a  broad  scale  to  prohibit  the  manufacture  and  sale  of  in- 
toxicants and  to  educate  the  young  as  to  the  baneful  effects 
of  alcohol.  The  word  "prohibition"  or  "abstinence"  has  sup- 
planted the  word  "temperance,"  though  even  this  word  is 
a  late  acquisition  by  the  Churches.  Once  we  opened  our 
protracted  meetings  and  welcomed  the  sinners  of  the  neigh- 
borhood to  the  exhortations  and  the  prayers  delivered  therein : 
now  we  are  carrying  the  gospel  to  men,  and  we  go  to  the  ends 
of  the  earth  with  our  Christian  message.  In  the  old  days 
we  promoted  Christian  education  by  means  of  the  Catechism 
and  a  few  isolated  theological  seminaries :  now  we  have  a 
vast  system  of  Sunday-schools,  with  nearly  four  millions  of 
scholars  and  a  splendid  literature  prepared  and  published  for 
them,  besides  hundreds  of  important  schools  and  colleges  of 
the  best  modern  type.  The  modern  Church  is  doing  evan- 
gelistic work,  and  besides  this,  benevolent  and  educational 
and  charitable  and  philanthropic  and  reformatory  work  under 
almost  every  form  of  social  service.  If  we  are  to  train 
adolescents  for  their  place  in  the  modern  Church  we  must 
exercise  them  in  varied  tasks. 

2.  The  social  function  of  the  Sunday-school.  The 
clear  view  of  the  underlying  principle  is  of  so  much  more 
importance  than  any  details  of  mechanical  method  that  we 
must  dwell  a  little  longer  upon  it.  The  school  has  a  social 
function ;  that  is,  there  is  a  distinctly  social  work  it  must 
do,  after  the  lessons  have  been  learned  within.  Dr.  Mc- 
Farland  says :  "The  mission  of  the  Sunday-school  is  to 
train  men  and  women  to  take  their  places  in  society  and  do 
the  work  which  Christian  men  and  women  should  do.  Chris- 
tianity is  essentially  a  social  religion,  requiring  the  recogni- 
tion of  the  obligations  growing  out  of  the  various  relations 
which  men  and  women  sustain  to  each  other.  It  should  be 
taught,  not  merely  in  its  abstract  principles,  but  in  its  prac- 


WAYS   OF   WORKING  247 

tical  applications  to  life.  This  kind  of  teaching  should  begin 
in  the  Sunday-school."  "It  is  high  time  that  we  should  take 
notice  that  a  socialism  of  a  very  pernicious  sort  is  rapidly 
developing  in  modern  society.  That  evil  socialism  will  grow 
and  prevail  unless  we  meet  it  by  a  genuine  Christian  social- 
ism that  will  carry  the  teachings  of  Jesus  Christ  into  the 
common  life." 

Take  also  a  citation  from  Dr.  Hallock :  "The  chief  in- 
terest to-day  is  in  social  progress  and  redemption.  It  has 
supplanted  among  Christians  the  theological  interest  of  fifty 
years  ago,  and  in  many  places  the  evangelistic  interest  of 
twenty-five  years  ago.  Where  fifty  years  ago  we  were  con- 
cerned in  solving  the  problem  of  the  future  state  of  the 
impenitent  or  the  inspiration  of  the  Scriptures,  now  we  are 
concerned  with  solving  the  problem  of  the  saloon,  the  brothel, 
the  disease-breeding  tenement,  the  corrupt  government,  the 
defrauding  trust,  and  the  always  hovering  curse  of  war." 

All  this  means,  not  the  departure  from  the  teachings 
of  Jesus  Christ,  but  the  bringing  them  to  their  natural  fru- 
ition. It  is  the  gospel  that  has  kindled  the  religious  en- 
thusiasm of  Christians  for  the  redemption  of  an  evil  world. 
The  master-motive  of  it  all  is  found  in  the  vow  that  conse- 
crates the  soul  of  the  disciple  to  the  will  of  the  Master. 
This  is  not  a  displacement  of  personal  experience :  it  is  the 
realization  of  it  in  the  true  following  of  the  Master.  The 
world  can  be  saved  by  it,  but  never  without  it.  "The  love 
of  man  which  lies  back  of  all  progress  is  born  of  the  love 
of  God." 

II.    The  Culture  of  Personal  Friendship 

One  of  the  primary  ways  of  working  is  to  provide  class 

socials  for  the  promotion  of  personal  friendships  among  the 

members   of  the  class.     As   has   been   previously 

suggested,  this  is   pure   and    practical   religion. 

It  fulfills  the  injunction,  "Love  one  another."    This  can  not  be 

done   without    opportunity,    and    class    socials    should   afford 


248       THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

this  opportunity.  Love  for  outside  people  can  grow  only 
from  the  love  of  inside  friends.  Dr.  C.  E.  Jefferson  says : 
"The  Christian  religion  reinforces  the  native  instincts  and 
aptitudes  of  our  nature.  It  makes  human  beings  more  social; 
it  brings  them  closer  together.  It  increases  the  craving  for 
fellowship  and  widens  the  joys  of  it.  Christians,  when  normal, 
want  to  come  together;  the  impulse  to  do  so  is  spontaneous 
and  irresistible.  In  the  darkest  days  of  persecution  the  Lord's 
disciples  have  met  together  by  night  if  not  by  day,  and  in 
caves  and  desert  places  if  not  in  churches  and  homes.  The 
fagots  of  bigots  and  the  swords  of  kings  have  never  been 
able  to  keep  Christians  apart.  They  knew  instinctively  that 
the  life  of  the  heart  depends  upon  fellowship,  and  that  the 
very  existence  of  Christianity  hangs  upon  meetings.  It  is 
in  meetings  that  the  sacred  fire  is  kept  burning  in  which 
the  iniquity  of  the  world  is  to  be  consumed." 

This  applies  as  well  to  social  gatherings  as  to  devotional 
services.  Both  are  religious,  and  equally  so.  We  are  not 
to  pray  and  sing  hymns  all  the  time.  There  is  need  of 
other  exercises.  Who  says  that  socials  are  selfish?  When 
a  young  person  attends  a  social  as  a  Christian,  he  may  seek 
the  good  of  others  as  truly  as  if  he  were  in  a  prayer-meet- 
ing. He  may  do  much  to  cheer  some  of  his  fellows  who 
have  no  homes  where  they  live  and  are  in  sore  need  of 
the  helpful  influence  of  clean  companions.  He  may  prove 
to  some  young  men  and  women  who  are  disposed  to  sniff 
at  "Sunday-school  doings"  that  these  are  far  superior  to 
public  dances  and  other  low  forms  of  pleasure  in  the  pure 
and  elevating  joy  that  they  afford. 

Lord  Byron,  who  drank  of  every  cup  that  earth  could 
give  him — Lord  Byron,  with  a  wealth  of  intellectual  and 
physical  nature  equal  to  almost  anything — just  before  he  died, 
sitting  among  gay  company,  was  meditative  and  moody.  They 
said  to  him,  "Byron,  what  are  you  thinking  about  so  seri- 
ously?" "O,"  he  said,  "I  was  thinking  of  the  number  of 
happy  days  I  have  had  in  this  world."     "How  many?"  was 

3 


WAYS   OF  WORKING  249 

asked.  "I  can  count  but  eleven,  and  I  was  just  wondering 
if  I  could  ever  make  up  the  dozen  in  this  world  of  pangs 
and  tears  and  sorrows."  The  pleasures  of  the  simple,  social 
life  are  not  only  pure,  but  they  are  lasting,  and  they  grow 
with  the  years.  In  the  delightful  circle  of  a  Sunday-school 
class  there  are  larger  opportunities  for  doing  good  than  any 
one  who  has   not  tried  it  would  think  possible. 

Beyond  the  evening  social,  there  are  many  ways  in  which 
the  companionship  of  the  class  may  be  cultivated.  There 
are  excursions  to  adjacent  cities,  to  points  of  historic  in- 
terest, to  the  home  of  a  distant  member,  to  a  convention 
or  an  institute.  There  are  picnics  which  the  class  may 
attend  as  a  class,  or  which  may  be  limited  to  the  class  and 
a  few  invited  friends.  Or  several  class  organizations  may 
unite  in  some  social  event.  It  is  scarcely  necessary  or  pos- 
sible within  our  limits  to  go  far  into  the  details  of  these 
things.  There  are  entire  books  written  to  furnish  information 
and  suggestions  therefor,  such  as  Dr.  Reisner's  "Social  Plans 
for  Young  People."  The  field  has  been  pretty  widely  culti- 
vated by  this  time,  and  young  people  need  be  at  no  loss 
for  interesting  occupations  for  all  the  time  they  will  have 
for    social   enjoyments. 

III.    Literary  Work 

Many  classes  have  found  certain  lines  of  literary  work 
interesting.  There  is  little  time,  say  thirty  minutes,  in  the 
Sunday-school  session  for  the  studies  that  the  young  people 

like  to  follow.  As  the  years  widen  before  them 
Special  their  interest  in  the  great  world  widens,  and  this 

Study  gives  them  great  possibilities   for  literary  work. 

Indeed,  it  is  not  necessary  for  any  class  of 
adolescents  to  adhere  to  the  line  of  work  followed  by  other 
classes  in  the  school.  One  of  the  most  injurious  effects  of 
the  old  uniform  lesson  has  been  the  compulsion  or  the  re- 
pulsion of  adolescents  to  whom  the  topics  and  their  treatment 
have  been  uninteresting  or  positively  obnoxious.     The  new 


250        THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

system  of  graded  lessons  has  the  important  advantage  of 
giving  the  yomig  people  what  they  v^ish  and  what  they  need. 
When  the  lessons  for  seniors  are  provided  they  will  be 
made  for  seniors,  and  there  will  doubtless  be  elective  courses 
which  will  afford  a  choice  of  study-subjects.  The  Hfe  of 
Christ,  for  example,  prepared  for  such  close  and  consecutive 
study  as  college  students  are  accustomed  to  give  to  the 
great  characters  of  history,  may  be  taken  up;  and  in  order 
to  have  more  time  for  the  work,  special  meetings  of  the 
class  may  be  appointed  at  other  hours,  and  particular  lines 
of  work  assigned  to  individual  members  for  preparation  and 
report.  So  the  life  of  Paul  or  Moses  or  David  may  be 
undertaken;  or  the  history  of  particular  periods  of  Old 
Testament  times,  or  the  history  of  the  early  Church  or  the 
Mediaeval  Church  or  the  Modern  Church,  or  of  any  other 
institution  or  of  any  great  event  that  has  had  its  pro- 
found bearing  upon  subsequent  life.  Besides  historical  studies, 
there  may  be  literary  or  scientific  studies,  or  social  studies, 
or  political  investigations.  There  is  no  natural  limit  to  the 
things  that  a  class  of  live  young  folks  may  do  if  they  desire. 
The  more  they  know  of  the  world  and  of  the  Church  and 
Its  past  and  present,  the  more  likely  will  they  be  to  be 
stirred  to  a  due  sense  of  their  opportunities. 

IV.    Work  for  the  School  and  Church 

There    is    a    wider    circle    of    service    that    a    class    may 
render — for  the  school  as   a  whole.     There   is   always   can- 
vassing for  new  members  to  be  done,  and  there  is  the  visi- 
tation of  members  sick  and  absent.     There  are 
Definite  letters  to  write  and  messages  to  carry.     One  of 

Helpfulness  *^^  most  beautiful  forms  of  work  for  a  class 
of  young  girls  is  the  regular  visitation  of  an 
orphanage  or  a  hospital,  with  the  preparation  of  little  gifts 
for  their  shut-in  friends  between  times.  A  girls'  class  may 
be  organized  as  a  "Sunshine  Band,"  working  with  great 
efficiency  in  the  Home  Department  of  the  school.     The  boys 


WAYS   OF  WORKING  251 

may  be  enlisted  in  some  form  of  Home  Department  work 
suited  to  them.  Or  a  class  may  take  up  the  musical  work 
of  the  school,  either  alone  or  in  conjunction  with  other 
classes.  A  great  deal  may  be  done  in  this  way,  and  every 
pupil  in  the  school  with  musical  talents  should  be  sought  out 
and  his  services  secured. 

Then,  there  is  the  great  athletic  interest.  If  a  school  has 
nothing  of  this  kind,  it  would  be  quite  appropriate  for  a 
class  of  adolescents  to  take  the  matter  up  and  see  whether 
something  could  not  be  done  in  the  way  of  providing  for 
this  real  need.  In  great  cities  there  is  always  a  demand 
for  proper  playgrounds  for  children.  Scores  of  boys  and 
girls  are  annually  killed  in  the  streets,  mainly  because  they 
have  no  other  place  to  play.  Some  of  the  older  persons 
may  unite  in  an  effort  for  securing  and  protecting  some 
vacant  lot  where  the  young  folks  may  safely  play.  Or  they 
may  fix  up  a  baseball  ground  in  any  town  or  village,  or  a 
tennis  court,  or  a  croquet  ground,  or  some  similar  place 
of  amusement.  Or  the  class  may  join  in  a  movement  for 
a  fully  equipped  gymnasium  adjacent  to  the  church. 

When  it  comes  to  the  anniversaries  of  the  school,  there 
are  many  ways  in  which  a  class  organization  may  work 
helpfully:  such  as  drilling,  decorating,  advertising,  soliciting, 
and  providing.  A  superintendent  is  always  glad  to  have  a 
compact  little  organization,  under  competent  leadership,  that 
he  can  lay  his  hand  upon  for  the  work  that  must  be  done 
to  make  the  school  go. 

Every  pastor  knows  how  good  it  is  to  have  a  number 
of  active  and  earnest  young  people  to  come  to  his  help  in 
the  varied  work  of  the  parish.  As  he  will  always  know 
what  is  needed  and  will  specify  the  tasks  to  be 
the  Church  done,  it  will  not  be  necessary  for  us  to  do 
this  here.  But  the  time  has  come  for  the  utiliza- 
tion of  the  young  people  in  the  active  work  of  the  Church  as 
never  before,  and  their  usefulness  here  is  beyond  question. 


252       THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

V.    In  the  Circle  of  the  World 

We  recur  to  the  kind  of  work  to  which  we  gave  attention 
at  length  in  the  beginning  of  the  chapter.  As  the  Churches 
are  giving  themselves  to  various  forms  of  social  work,  some 
of  the  finest  possible  opportunities  are  afforded  our  earnest 
young   folks    for  the   kind   of   service   that  means    so   much 

to  them  and  to  the  community.  In  the  temper- 
Definite  ance  reform,  for  instance,  organized  classes  of 
Service            adolescents  have  co-operated  with  adult  classes  to 

canvass  for  votes  and  signatures,  to  watch  regis- 
tration, and  help  to  get  out  the  vote  in  local  option  elections. 
In  charity  work  young  people  are  exceedingly  valuable  as 
visitors  and  investigators  and  as  day-by-day  friends  and  help- 
ers. In  the  work  for  suffering  childhood  adolescents  can  do 
much  when  they  are  properly  organized. 

Take  a  case  like  this.  In  an  East  Side  school  in  New 
York  an  insubordinate  boy  was  sent  home  with  a  note  to 
his  father.  But  the  teacher  became  a  little  uneasy  lest  the 
boy  might  be  flogged  too  severely,  and  she  asked  him  about 
it.  "No,"  said  the  lad,  "he'll  just  turn  me  out,  I  guess." 
The  next  day  the  boy  came  to  school  heavy  with  sleeplessness 
and  blue  with  cold.  She  learned  that  it  was  a  common 
form  of  punishment  with  the  parents  in  that  quarter  to  turn 
a  refractory  child  out  into  the  streets  for  the  night!  And 
these  are  not  by  any  means  the  worst  parents.  What  is 
to  be  done?  The  remedy  is  not  with  the  school  nor  with 
the  parents  alone.  It  has  been  undertaken  by  the  Society 
for  the  Prevention  of  Cruelty  to  Children,  and  they  must 
do  it  by  enlisting  as  many  as  possible  of  the  more  favored 
ones  in  the  urgent  work.  This  is  home  missionary  work. 
It  is  Christlike  work.  It  is  what  we  all  need  to  have  a  hand 
in,  and  the  aid  of  the  youth  and  of  Sunday-schools  will  be 
welcomed  by  those  who  are  directing  this  society  and  by  the 
other  agencies  that  are  taking  pity  on  the  neglected  chil- 
dren of  the  community. 


WAYS  OF  WORKING  253 

The  elementary  lessons  of  social  service  are  appropriate 
to  class  effort.  Whatever  a  Church  undertakes  may  be 
divided  up  systematically  among  its  workers,  and  the  classes 
of  the  school  will  be  glad  to  come  in  for  their  share.  This 
kind  of  work  will  not  only  aid  them  in  their  Biblical  studies, 
but  it  will  make  religion  real  to  them. 

Not  long  ago  a  Church  took  up  an  independent  investi- 
gation of  the  problem  of  the  milk  supply  of  its  city,  in- 
cluding the  charges  of  extortionate  prices  charged  for  this 
indispensable  food.  The  men  of  the  Church  took  charge  of 
the  inquiry,  and  went  about  it  systematically.  Their  findings 
were  a  valuable  contribution  to  the  great  public  problem. 
Another  Church  is  carrying  on  an  industrial  school  which 
meets  every  Saturday  morning,  with  classes  in  chair-caning, 
raffia,  kitchen-gardening,  cooking,  dressmaking,  millinery, 
embroidery,  knitting,  modeling,  and  kindergarten.  The  en- 
rollment of  this  school  is  now  over  two  hundred,  and  it 
is  proving  of  inestimable  value  to  those  who  need  the  in- 
struction furnished,  and  who  for  the  most  part  can  not 
obtain  it  elsewhere.  It  may  be  noted  that  the  Bible  school 
of  this  Church  has  grown  in  three  years  from  212  to  925 
members.  One  of  the  officials  says  concerning  their  work: 
'The  Church  must  adopt  practical  methods  to  attract  and 
hold  the  masses.  At  the  same  time  it  must  keep  pace  with 
the  higher  education.  The  spirit  of  the  age  is  the  spirit  of 
love  that  seeks  to  make  real  the  brotherhood  of  man."  Prof. 
Rauschenbusch  has  recently  said:  "If  the  Church  tries  to 
confine  itself  to  theology  and  the  Bible,  and  refuses  its 
larger  mission  to  humanity,  its  theology  will  gradually  become 
mythology  and  its  Bible  a  closed  Book." 

There  is  no  limit  to  the  forms  and  kinds  of  work  that 
organized  classes  may  undertake  for  social  betterment.  Not 
much  has  yet  been  done  in  this  direction,  but  it  is  coming. 
The  Churches  are  reaching  out  into  the  world  as  never  be- 
fore, and  they  will  doubtless  apply  Christianity  to  social  needs 
in    such   a   way   as   to   accredit   their   vital    relation   to    him 


254       THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

who  "went  about  doing  good."  This  work  will  so  illustrate 
and  enforce  the  gospel  that  they  preach  as  to  win  the  world 
at  last,  and  bring  the  kingdom  in.  It  is  plain  that  Christian 
individuals  ought  to  do  this  kind  of  work.  It  seems  also 
plain  that  in  whatever  an  individual  needs  to  do  he  may 
have  the  co-operation  of  his  companions  and  the  guidance 
of  his  Sunday-school  teacher. 

VI.    The  Teacher's  Opportunity 

Space  remains  only  for  the  suggestion  that  the  teacher  is 
greatly  needed  here  for  looking  over  the  whole  field  and 
selecting  for  his  pupils  the  work  that  he  considers  best  for 
them  to  undertake.  With  his  riper  experience  he  can  be  of 
inestimable  help  to  them,  not  only  in  this,  but  in  guiding 
and  counseling  them  all  along.  He  can  take  special  cogni- 
zance of  the  particular  abilities  of  each  pupil,  and  he  can 
co-ordinate  their  efforts  so  that  their  efforts  may  be  directed 
effectually  as  a  unit. 

Lesson  Outline: 

I.   The  Field  of  Service. 
II.   The  Culture  of  Personal  Friendship. 

III.  Literary  Work. 

IV.  Work  for  the  School  and  Church. 
V.    In  the  Circle  of  the  World. 

VI.   The  Teacher's  Opportunity. 

Topics  for  Special  Study: 

1.  The  need  of  cultivating  friendships. 

2.  Possible  forms  of  social  service  for  the  Senior  Class. 

Topics  for  Class  Discussion: 

1.  What  are  the  limits  to  the  work  of  the  Church? 

2.  Who  shall  put  into  practice  the  principles  the  Church 

preaches  ? 


WAYS  OF  WORKING  255 

3.  The  Church  and  reforms. 

4.  The  Church  and  charities. 

5.  How  far  is  the  Church  responsible  for  the  welfare 

of  the  community? 

6.  What  is  the  best  antidote  for  worldly  pleasures? 

7.  What  proper  subjects  for  senior  study? 

8.  Is  it  reasonable  for  the  seniors  to  study  the  same 

lessons  as  the  primaries? 

9.  Is  it  practicable  to  make  a   success   of  a  class   of 

young  people  that  spends  no  more  than  an  hour 
and  a  half  a  week  together? 
ID.    Is   it  any  of  the   Sunday-school's  business   if  there 
is  destitution  and  neglect  and  wretchedness  in  the 
town? 


CHAPTER  XIX 

JOINING  THE  BROTHERHOOD 


17 


CHAPTER  XIX 
JOINING  THE  BROTHERHOOD 

I.    A  Study  of  Church  Membership 

We  once  knew  a  fluttery  young  man  who  used  to  carry 
a  clinical  thermometer  around  with  him.  At  intervals  when 
he  experienced  some  sort  of  a  "goneness,"  he  would  hastily 

thrust  the  tube  into  his  mouth,  take  his  tempera- 
Religion  is  ^yj-g^  record  it  in  his  memorandum  book,  and 
Feeling  heave  a  sigh.    There  are  some  people  who  seem  to 

take  their  religion  in  about  this  fashion — and 
there  are  a  few  left  who  go  so  far  as  to  say  that  if  a  healthy 
and  earnest  Christian  does  not  feel  the  need  of  the  ther- 
mometer, "the  root  of  the  matter  is  not  in  him."  There 
are,  fortunately,  not  as  many  such  persons  now  as  there 
used  to"  be.  When  they  all  pass  there  will  be  a  better  pros- 
pect for  our  young  people.  We  are  blessed  in  our  day  with 
an  enlarged  and  enriched  conception  of  what  it  means  to 
be  a  Church  member.  To  join  the  Church  is  not  to  enter 
a  circle  of  pious  selfishness — for  it  is  just  as  truly  selfish 
to  be  engrossed  with  our  own  piety  as  with  our  virtues 
or  our  business  interests.  The  original  conception  of  the 
Church  was  a  brotherhood  wherein  each  lived  not  for  him- 
self, but  for  all.  To  this  we  are  returning  as  we  learn 
Christ  more  perfectly.  It  is  not  enough  for  our  young 
people  to  be  converted:  they  must  go  on  into  the  brother- 
hood that  Christ  established,  to  be  a  part  of  it,  and  to  bear 
worthily  one's  share  in  it.  The  teacher  of  adolescents  must 
include  this  in  his  plan.     He  must  win  his  pupils  to  Christ 

259  ^ 


26o       THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

first,  and  to  the  service  of  Christ  in  the  Church  next.  He 
must  strive  to  show  them  the  incomparable  advantages  of 
the  Church  as  a  field  of  effort,  an  agency  of  achievement, 
and  a  brotherhood  of  co-operation.  To  this  study  we  devote 
this  lesson. 

Nothing  is  more  characteristic  of  modern  pedagogy  than 
the  importance  attributed  to  the  point  of  view.  Without 
the  right  angle  from  which  to  view  facts  and  principles,  they 
are  not  seen  in  the  right  perspective  or  propor- 
of  View  *^'-*"'    -^  distorted  or  foreshortened  truth  becomes 

false,  and  such  a  fact  becomes  fiction.  "We  are 
educated  by  the  things  we  admire  and  love;  and  unless 
young  people  can  be  placed  at  the  standpoint  from  which 
virtue  is  seen  to  be  pleasant  and  all  her  ways  peaceful  and 
beauteous,  the  real  master  is  the  evil  given  a  romance  and 
a  glamor  by  the  imagination  working  without  conscience  or 
moral  aim."  We  might  have  said  this  before,  for  the  prin- 
ciple applies  to  the  teaching  of  anything.  But  it  is  of  sur- 
passing importance  in  the  final  formative  work  upon  the 
young  mind  that  the  teacher  know  how  to  place  it  just 
where  the  rich  affections  and  the  quick  sympathies  of  ado- 
lescents shall  fasten  upon  the  right  persons  and  the  best 
things. 

It  is  possible  to  excite  a  subtle  sympathy  with  evil  while 
one  is  issuing  warnings  against  it.  There  is  besides  the 
theorems  and  the  formulas  and  the  dates  and  syllogisms, 
what  some  have  called  "the  tone  value;"  that  is,  the  at- 
tractive sound  that  accompanies  the  lesson  like  fascinating 
music  and  charms  the  heart  along  with  or  away  from  it. 
Now,  this  tone  value  can  not  be  imprisoned  in  words :  it 
is  the  function  of  personality,  and  proceeds  from  an  uncon- 
scious heart.  "It  can  not  be  secured  by  legal  enactments 
any  more  than  a  perfume  can  be  captured  by  a  net.  The 
letter  of  a  law  may  be  strictly  kept,  but  its  spirit  may  as 
easily  be  violated."  The  tone  value  of  the  teacher's  work 
counts  for  more  with  the  emotions  and  the  volitions  of  the 


JOINING  THE  BROTHERHOOD  261 

pupils  than  all  else  he  does,  and  it  largely  depends  upon  his 
point  of  view.  Professor  John  Adams  lays  much  stress  upon 
the  importance  of  this.  It  applies  with  great  force  to  the 
teacher's  representation  of  Church  membership  and  his  in- 
citement to  its  duties. 

II.    The  Youth  a  Soul- Winner 

One  of  the  first  privileges  of  Church  membership  is  soul- 
winning.  We  are  not  referring  now  to  the  teacher,  but  to 
the  pupil.  If  he  is  rightly  taught,  he  will  realize  that  he 
has  been  won  to  win.  This  is  his  work  and  his 
The  Youth's  proper  work.  He  should  be  shown  that  it  de- 
Youth  °^  pends  largely  upon  himself.  The  old  can  not 
win  the  young  to  any  great  extent :  this  is  for 
the  young  to  do.  Spiritual  influence  glides  along  parallels. 
Those  nearest  a  person  can  do  the  most  with  him.  They 
understand  him  best.  We  have  often  heard  a  parent  who 
could  not  understand  what  the  baby  said,  ask  the  baby's  four 
or  five-year-old  brother  to  interpret,  which  he  readily  did. 
Some  high  authorities  affirm  that  young  teachers  are  the 
best  for  children ;  for  though  they  know  less  than  older  ones, 
their  point  of  view  is  better.  It  is  said  that  years  ago  the 
men  of  England  made  a  determined  effort  in  behalf  of  the 
young  men  of  London  and  failed.  Then  they  got  the  women 
to  go  after  them  and,  strange  to  say,  they  failed,  too.  They 
became  discouraged,  and  while  they  were  trying  to  solve  the 
problem  of  how  to  reach  the  young  men,  a  young  man  took 
it  up  on  his  own  account  and  went  after  two  or  three  of 
his  companions.  He  got  them,  and  they  got  others.  George 
Williams  had  thus  discovered  the  much-sought  method,  and 
the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  was  born  then  and 
there. 

This  advantage  of  youth  is  illustrated  in  the  story  of  a 
country  boy  who  came  to  the  city  and  was  invited  by  a 
youn^  salesman  to  go  to  Church  with  him.  He  went.  There 
was  a  handsome  old  man  of  about  seventy-five  years  of  age 


262       THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

who  got  up  and  in  the  gravest  way  said  that  he  was  just 
waiting  for  God  to  take  him ;  that  he  had  lived  his  life ; 
that  God  had  been  good  to  him;  and  that  religion  was  a 
good  thing  to  die  by.  He  said:  "I  sat  away  back  and 
soliloquized:  'Well,  old  man,  you  can't  touch  me;  you  have 
lived  your  life;  you  haven't  any  sympathy  with  a  big  boy; 
it  has  passed  over  my  head.'  Soon  after  a  younger  fellow 
got  up.  He  said:  'I  have  just  begun  the  Christian  life. 
Two  years  ago  I  was  converted;  I  had  just  begun  business, 
and  had  a  prejudice  against  religion.  I  am  a  great  deal 
happier;  I  am  a  better  business  man.'  I  listened  to  him, 
and  I  said  to  myself:  There  you  are;  you  want  to  be  a 
business  man,  and  he  tells  you  how  you  can  be  a  better 
business  man.  He  tells  you  that  religion  is  good  to  live 
by.  'Now,  do  you  ever  intend  to  be  a  Christian?'  'Yes.' 
'Well,  if  it  is  a  good  thing,  why  don't  you  be  it  right  away?' 
I  said,  'Yes,  I  will.'  I  waited  until  everybody  went  out 
except  the  janitor  and  the  old  minister;  and  as  the  latter 
came  down  the  aisle  he  met  a  country  boy  coming  up,  and 
I  was  the  chap.  I  simply  said  to  him,  'I  have  settled  to- 
night to  give  my  heart  to  God.'  And  he  reached  out  his 
hand  and  said,  'God  bless  you,  you  will  never  regret  it.' 
That  was  the  whole  business."  This  is  John  Wanamaker's 
story  of  how  he  was  won  to  Christ. 

Older  people  frequently  say  things  to  young  people  that 
repel  them  instead  of  attracting  them.  It  is  the  matter 
of  the  point  of  view  again.  They  have  forgotten  many  of 
the  facts  and  feelings  of  youth  and  say  the 
TactoTyouth  wrong  thing,  or  do  the  wrong  thing  while  say- 
ing the  right.  They  often  address  themselves 
to  imaginary  problems  and  fail  to  discern  the  real.  The  re- 
sult is  that  the  young  person  is  exhorted  to  accept  some- 
thing that  he  already  possesses,  or  is  left  in  the  dark 
when  he  would  gladly  have  the  light.  Often  he  is  ex- 
horted by  words  when  he  is  making  careful  observations 
upon  deeds. 

s 


JOINING  THE  BROTHERHOOD  263 

A  prominent  lecturer  once  said :  "If  the  present  lecturer 
has  the  right  to  consider  himself  a  real  Christian,  if  he  has 
been  of  any  service  to  his  fellow  creatures,  and  has  attained 
to  any  usefulness  in  the  Church  of  Christ,  he  owes  it  to 
the  sight  of  a  companion,  who  slept  in  the  same  room  with 
him,  bending  his  knees  in  prayer  every  night  on  retiring 
to  rest.  That  scene,  so  unostentatious  and  yet  so  uncon- 
cealed, roused  my  slumbering  conscience  and  sent  an  arrow 
to  my  heart;  for  though  I  had  been  religiously  educated, 
I  had  restrained  prayer  and  cast  off  the  fear  of  God.  My 
conversion  followed,  and  soon  after  my  entrance  upon  col- 
lege studies  for  the  work  of  the  ministry.  Nearly  half  a 
century  has  rolled  away  since  then,  with  all  its  multitudinous 
events,  but  that  little  chamber,  that  humble  couch,  that  pray- 
ing youth  are  still  present  to  my  imagination,  and  will  never 
be  forgotten,  even  amidst  the  splendors  of  heaven." 

When  the  Church  comes  to  the  full  realization  of  the 
power  of  the  young  to  win  their  fellows,  and  takes  this 
fruitful  principle  into  her  systematic  Sunday-school  work  with 
adolescents,  she  will  enter  upon  the  solution  of  her  gravest 
problem. 

We  must  never  forget  that  this  work  is  as  needful  to 
the  savior  as  to  the  saved.  Haslett  cites  the  case  of  a 
pastor  who  was  successful  in  filling  his  church  at  its  preach- 
ing services  and  generally  had  three  hundred 
The  Saving  young  men  in  his  congregation.  But  four  years 
Reacts  afterward  there  were  not  fifty  of  them  there,  ex- 

cept on  special  occasions.  What  was  the  trouble? 
He  had  not  brought  them  into  the  brotherhood.  There  is 
a  limit  to  the  spectator  business,  and  he  found  it.  The 
Vine  is  a  living  thing,  and  everything  merely  tied  onto  it 
will  wither.  The  branches  that  draw  their  life  from  the 
Vine  because  they  are  a  part  of  it  represent  the  only  Chris- 
tians that  last.  A  merely  formal  or  ritualistic  relation  does 
not  suffice.  One  might  think  that  there  could  be  no  adultera- 
tion of  this  kind  of  soul-winning,  but  there  can  be. 

8 


264       THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

Coe  tells  us  of  a  girl  who  took  a  vow  shortly  after  her 
conversion  to  pray  for  the  unconverted  at  ten  o'clock  every 
forenoon.  Believing  that  kneeling  was  essential  to  the  com- 
plete fulfilling  of  her  vow,  and  being  in  her  school  at  ten 
o'clock,  she  was  perplexed  to  know  how  to  do  what  she  had 
promised  God  among  the  pupils  in  the  schoolroom.  But 
she  solved  the  problem  in  this  way.  When  the  clock  struck 
ten  she  dropped  her  pencil  on  the  floor,  underneath  her  desk. 
Then  she  got  down  to  pick  it  up,  and  in  this  act  managed 
to  touch  her  knees  momentarily  to  the  floor,  and  her  vow 
was  kept ! 

It  should  be  easy  to  see  that  here  is  a  complete  absence 
of  the  motive  that  alone  can  give  vitality  to  soul-winning 
— the  aim  of  the  brotherhood.  The  genuine  soul-winner  loves 
souls,  and  seeks  them  intelligently  and  ceaselessly,  devising 
his  own  ingenious  methods  and  overcoming  his  difficulties 
in  the  same  rational  way  that  he  pursues  other  ends. 

Contrast  with  the  mechanical  piety  of  the  schoolgirl  the 
real  zeal  of  the  workingman  in  Dr.  Jowett's  Church  at  Bir- 
mingham, who  toiled  for  months  to  reclaim  a  sin-bruised 
brother.  "I  've  got  him !"  he  shouted,  with  his  face  radiant 
with  joy,  "got  him  after  eighty  visits."  It  was  true.  Night 
after  night  for  eighty  nights  he  had  gone  out  after  his  man, 
catching  him  before  the  drink  could  entice  him,  bringing  him 
home  to  the  Church  and  watching  over  him  ceaselessly. 

Mr.  Hubert  Carleton,  secretary  of  the  Brotherhood  of 
St.  Andrew,  has  tested  this  matter  pretty  thoroughly  in  his 
work  with  boys,  and  he  believes  cordially  in  the  efiicacy  of 
a  boy's  own  service  in  saving  him.  Make  the  very  highest 
appeal  to  the  boy  by  giving  him  real  work  to  do  and  plenty 
of  it.  He  says:  "Yes,  the  boy  can  be  won,  but  not  in  the 
usual  way  in  which  the  Church  is  working  at  the  problem 
to-day.  The  boy  can  be  won  by  employing  his  interests,  his 
energies,  his  possibilities,  and  his  inspiration  in  behalf  of 
God  and  God's  cause.  The  way  to  win  the  boy  for  the  Church 
is  to  teach  him  to  work  for  the  Church.     And  by  Church 


JOINING  THE  BROTHERHOOD  265 

work  I  do  not  mean  what  is  commonly  meant  by  Church 
work.  I  do  not  mean  to  give  the  boy  some  petty  tinkering 
around  the  church  and  allow  him  to  call  that  Church  work 
or  work  for  God.  If  you  send  your  boy  running  messages 
for  the  rector,  delivering  notices,  collecting  books,  and  the 
like,  and  teach  him  to  do  nothing  else,  you  have  dwarfed 
the  boy  at  the  very  beginning;  and  if  you  dwarf  the  boy 
you  will  never  develop  the  man.  The  Church  is  in  this  world 
to  make  people  Christians  who  are  not  Christians  to-day, 
and  the  boy  must  be  taught  by  the  Church  to  take  up  his 
share  in  this  work.  In  plain  English,  then,  let  me  say 
that  no  boy  can  be  a  real  Christian  unless  he  is  trying  to 
make  it  easier  for  other  boys  who  are  not  Christians  to 
become  Christians,  or  those  who  are  Christians  already  to 
become  better  Christians.  The  Church  is  teaching  the  boy 
to-day  a  maimed  religion,  an  imperfect  religion,  a  religion 
with  the  heart  left  out  of  it.  She  is  teaching  him  that  it  is 
his  duty  to  live  straight,  but  she  is  not  teaching  him  that 
it  is  his  equally  necessary  duty  to  help  the  other  fellow  to 
live  straight." 

III.    The  Use  of  the  Revival 

It  should  not  be  thought  that  this  advocacy  of  individual 
soul-winning  dispenses  with  the  religious  revival.  It  is  natural 
for  springtime  to  come.    Scarcely  anything  has  been  so  sorely 

abused  in  the  Church  as  the  revival,  and  yet  it 
o^Grace"*"     has    its    place    and    function.      The    chapter    on 

rhythm  in  Herbert  Spencer's  philosophy  has  been 
to  this  writer  one  of  the  most  illuminating  contributions  to 
the  whole  discussion  of  revivals.  In  the  logic  of  this  the 
permanence  of  these  times  of  refreshing  is  bound  up.  Dr. 
Forbush  says  that  the  revival  appeals  especially  to  ado- 
lescence. "It  satisfies  the  emotional  nature.  It  is  a  simple 
appeal  to  the  heart.  Take  away  the  late  hours,  the  long 
services,  the  untrained  and  fanatic  exhorters — features  which 
are   incidental — and    reduce   it   to   a   'children's    crusade,'    in 


266       THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

which  the  social  and  emotional  element  is  retained,  where 
the  ideal  of  the  heroic  and  loving  Christ  and  His  grand 
and  strenuous  service  are  held  up  by  the  pastor  or  a  wise 
specialist  with  children,  and  we  have  an  instrument  of  his- 
toric dignity  and  perpetual  value.  The  danger  is  the  forcing 
of  the  nature  before  it  has  come  to  its  day  of  choice,  and  the 
neglect  to  follow  up  the  decision  by  careful  training." 

This  was  written  with  special  reference  to  early  adoles- 
cence, but  it  applies  equally  well  to  our  period. 

IV.    The  Youth  a  Sunday-school  Teacher 

Another  investment  of  influence  offered  by  the  Church 
to  the  adolescent  is  the  work  of  teaching.  This  is  of  the 
utmost  value,  both  to  the  school  and  the  young  teacher  him- 
self. We  are  using  our  young  people  in  this 
The  Power  (jgUgi^tful  work  more  and  more  as  their  adapta- 
of  Influence  ="  ,     .        -^   .  .      •    i  •  i 

tion  to  it  and  their  efficiency  m  it  become  evident. 

Some  of  our  inexperienced  teachers  rank  among  the  best 
of  all  teachers.  They  seem  to  be  able  to  strike  the  right 
tone  value  by  a  sort  of  youthful  intuition,  and  their  point 
of  view  naturally  coincides  with  that  of  their  pupils. 

Forbush  calls  the  three  curses  of  humanitarian  work  utili- 
tarianism, uniformity,  and  numbers — "and  the  greatest  of 
these  is  numbers.  It  takes  perpetual  vigilance  to  do  Church 
or  social  work  without  becoming  a  slave  to  the  addition 
table.  All  work  for  men  that  amounts  to  anything  is  in 
the  end  the  influence  of  personality  on  personality.  We  must 
forget  our  addition  table  and  stop  seeing  our  boys  as  flocks. 
The  most  important  thing  any  one  can  do  for  a  boy  is  to 
love  him."  This  thing  young  people  seem  highly  gifted  for 
doing.  They  are  not  crusted  over  with  formalism.  Their 
sympathies  are  fresh  and  frank  and  their  enthusiasms  are 
clean  and  contagious.  There  are  classes  of  young  people 
without  teachers  that  have  run  along  admirably  for  a  long 
time.  They  began  in  accidents,  but  were  continued  on  their 
merits.     The  Young  Men's    Christian   Association   has   been 


JOINING  THE  BROTHERHOOD  267 

experimenting  with  Bible  classes  with  no  teachers  but  boys 
of  the  same  age  as  their  classmates,  and  the  officers  of  the 
association  express  much  satisfaction  with  the  results  ob- 
tained. These  pupil-teachers  have  been  carefully  drilled  by 
an  adult  or  in  a  training-class,  of  course.  It  is  then  found 
that  "the  absence  of  sermonizing  and  the  freedom  from  the 
dominance  of  an  adult  personality  make  for  a  healthy  and 
expressive  class  life." 

This  is  valuable  testimony  for  us.  It  suggests  that  the 
Sunday-schoul  teacher  should  have  teacher-training  in  mind 
for  his  pupils,  and  as  soon  as  possible  prepare  his  young 
people  for  this  kind  of  service.  Every  pastor  knows  the 
value  of  the  work  of  the  right  kind  of  young  girl  or  young 
man  as  a  teacher ;  and  he  also  knows  how  many  who  have 
seemed  to  be  worldly  and  frivolous  swing  around  and  prove 
themselves  the  right  sort  when  they  assume  the  responsi- 
bility of  real  work.  We  are  sure  that  many  have  been 
saved  by  teaching  who  would  never  have  been  saved  by 
teachers. 

Alice  Freeman  Palmer  was  born  In  poverty,  but  she  be- 
queathed the  world  one  of  the  richest  legacies  of  blessing 
left  by  any  woman  anywhere.  She  joined  the  brotherhood 
that  we  have  been  describing  at  fourteen  years 
One  Young  q£  ^g^^  ^j^^  became  a  force  in  it  from  that  day. 
Secret  After  her  death  her  husband  received  nearly  two 

thousand  letters  from  statesmen,  schoolgirls, 
clerks,  lawyers,  teachers,  country  wives,  outcasts,  millionaires, 
ministers,  men  of  letters — all  feeling  the  marvel  of  her  per- 
sonality and  lamenting  their  personal  loss  at  her  untimely 
death.  At  one  time  her  husband  urged  her  to  deny  the 
numerous  personal  interviews  that  she  was  according,  saying 
that  she  could  accomplish  so  much  more  with  her  limited 
strength  by  writing  books  of  lasting  value.  Her  reply  re- 
veals the  secret  of  her  consecration  and  admirably  illustrates 
the  principle  that  this  lesson  is  presenting  to  the  teachers 
of  adolescents :    'T  am  trying  to  make  girls  wiser  and  happier. 


268       THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

Books  do  n't  help  much  toward  that.  They  are  entertaining 
enough,  but  they  are  really  dead  things.  Why  should  I 
make  more  of  them.  It  is  people  that  count.  You  want  to 
put  yourself  into  people ;  they  touch  other  people ;  those, 
others  still ;  and  so  you  go  on  working  forever." 

Her  husband  said  that  she  instinctively  adopted  the  idea 
of  Jesus,  that  if  you  would  remold  the  world  the  wise  way 
is  not  to  write,  but  to  devote  your  fleeting  years  to  per- 
sistent talks  with  individuals,  like  His  with  a  dozen  j^oung 
fishermen.  This  opportunity  the  Church  offers  to  all  our 
young  women  and  young  men.  Mrs.  Palmer  wrote  this  to  a 
friend :  "As  I  lived  among  these  young  people  day  after 
day  I  felt  a  want  of  something,  not  intellectual  or  even  re- 
ligious culture ;  not  a  lack  of  physical  training  or  that  ac- 
quaintance with  social  life  which  can  be  so  charming  in  a 
true  woman ;  but  a  something  I  must  call  heart-culture,  in 
lack  of  a  better  name.  Every  one  was  kind,  but  cold.  There 
was  no  intentional  freezing,  but  an  absence  of  the  sunshine 
which  melts  its  own  way.  Looking  on  and  into  them,  I 
said,  I  will  try  to  be  a  friend  to  them  all,  and  put  all  that 
is  truest  and  sweetest  and  sunniest  and  strongest  that  I 
can  gather  into  their  lives.  While  I  teach  them  solid  knowl- 
edge and  give  them  real  school  drill  as  faithfully  as  I  may, 
I  will  give,  too,  all  that  the  years  brought  to  my  own  soul. 
God  help  me  to  give  zvhat  He  gave — myself — and  make  that 
self  worth  something  to  somebody ;  teach  me  to  love  all  as  He 
has  loved,  for  the  sake  of  the  infinite  possibilities  locked  up 
in  every  human  soul.  Consecrating  myself  to  the  future  of 
these  girls,  to  them  as  women,  I  have  tried  in  this  life 
among  them  to  make  them  feel  they  can  always  come  to 
me  in  happy  and  in  sad  times,  in  restless  moments,  or  home- 
sick or  tired  hours.  Whenever  they  want  help  or  comfort 
my  door  and  heart  shall  be  open." 

These  citations  from  Professor  Palmer's  biography  of  his 
wife  illustrate  the  spirit  that  makes  the  ceremony  of  joining 
the  Church  a  virtual  sacrament. 

3 


JOINING  THE  BROTHERHOOD  269 

V.    The  Only  Brotherhood 

It  is  not  within  the  scope  of  this  lesson  to  specify  all 
the  numerous  agencies  of  the  Church  that  invite  the  devo- 
tion of  our  youth.  We  have  noted  some  of  the  more  im- 
portant lines  of  Church  opportunity,  the  spirit  of  the  true 
member,  with  the  value  of  his  service  both  to  the  Church 
and  to  himself.  Some  one  has  said  that  the  principal  moral 
task  of  the  child  is  to  grow  a  conscience,  and  of  the  youth 
to  grow  a  will.  The  will  is  nurtured  only  by  exercise,  and 
the  atmosphere  and  the  facilities  of  the  Church  afford  in- 
comparably the  best  chance  in  the  world  for  this. 

We  add  this  last  word :  The  Brotherhood  of  Jesus  Christ 
is  the  only  circle  wherein  we  may  surely  say  that  the  soul 
may  develop  uuito  the  life  everlasting.  In  this  sense  the 
Church  is  divine.  He  whom  Jesus  has  forgiven  must  work 
with  him,  for  "He  that  gathereth  not  with  Me  scattereth;" 
and  he  who  would  do  Christ's  work  must  be  sanctified  by 
Him,  for  "If  I  wash  thee  not,  thou  hast  no  part  with  Me." 

Lesson  Outline: 

1.   A  Study  of  Church  Membership. 
II.   The  Youth  a  Soul-Winner. 

III.  The  Use  of  the  Revival. 

IV.  The  Youth  a  Sunday-school  Teacher. 
V.   The  Only  Brotherhood. 

Topics  for  Special  Study: 

1.  Proper  revival  methods  for  use  with  adolescents. 

2.  Methods  of  personal  work. 

Topics  for  Class  Discussion: 

1.  What  is  "the  root  of  the  matter"  spiritually? 

2.  What  is  meant  by  ''point  of  view?" 

3.  What  is  there  in  teaching  besides  the  spoken  words? 


270       THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

4.  What  ought  to  be  the  goal  of  the  teacher's  efforts? 

5.  Who  can  work  best  with  young  people? 

6.  The  young  teacher's  advantages. 

7.  The  young  teacher's  limitations. 

8.  What   difficulties   do  older  people  find   in   working 

with  the  young? 

9.  What  are  proper  times   for  soul-winning? 

10.  Is  it  wise  to  give  young  people  important  work  in 

the  Church? 

11.  What  do  you  think  of  Mrs.  Palmer's  method? 


CHAPTER  XX 
THE  CALL  OF  THE  WORLD 


CHAPTER  XX 
THE  CALL  OF  THE  WORLD 

I.  Guiding  Principles 

These  cardinal  principles  we  have  tried  to  keep  before 
the  senior  worker  in  these  studies :  the  significance  and  op- 
portunity of  growth,  the  peculiarities  of  adolescence,  the 
responsiveness  of  the  adolescent  to  the  right  appeals,  the 
importance  of  the  teacher's  understanding  of  his  pupils,  the 
value  of  present-day  opportunities  to  the  senior,  the  supreme 
need  of  intelligent  spiritual  culture,  and  the  teacher's  ex- 
traordinary possibilities  of  influence. 

II.  The  Last  Lesson 

John  Trebonius  was  the  old  German  professor  who  al- 
ways appeared  before  his  students  with  uncovered  head,  and 
when  asked  for  an  explanation  of  this  reverence,  said,  "Who 
•Pl^g  can    tell    what    yet    may    rise    up    among    these 

Unlimited  youths?"  And  among  the  youths  of  that  class 
Possibiiites  was  Martin  Luther,  that  "solitary  monk  that 
of  Youth  gj^QQj^  the  world."     Said  Paul  to  Timothy,  "Let 

no  man  despise  thy  youth,"  expressing  thereby  his  sense  of 
appreciation  of  youth's  possibilities.  The  teacher  is  that 
privileged  person  who  is  permitted  to  enter  the  sanctuary  of 
youth.  As  he  proves  himself  intelligent  and  wise  and  sym- 
pathetic he  is  held  in  the  hearts  of  his  pupils,  and  his  in- 
fluence over  them  is  very  great. 

As  maturity  draws  near  the  plastic  period  comes  to  its 
natural  close.  His  is  the  last  hand  that  may  touch  their  life 
to  mold  it  with  facility.  At  this  time  also  the  youth  stands 
upon  the  threshold  of  his  permanent  abode.  He  has  not 
finally  chosen  it  yet,  and  this  teacher  may  be  the  one  w^ho 
18  273  ' 


274       THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

shall  crown  all  his  labors  of  love  in  taking  him  up  into  a 
high  mountain — not  of  temptation,  but  of  outlook — and  show- 
ing him  all  the  kingdoms  of  the  world  and  the  glory  of 
them.  Perhaps  he  is  the  only  guide  who  can  take  the 
youth  safely  to  Inspiration  Point  and  disclose  to  him  the 
expansive  panorama  of  mountain  and  valley,  of  forest  and 
field  and  river.  It  will  not  do  for  the  teacher  to  neglect 
this  last  and  highest  opportunity  nor  to  omit  it  in  his  own 
preparations  for  his  holy  service.  If  he  would  do  his  full 
duty  by  his  pupil-friend  he  must  have  his  own  ear  out  for 
the  call  of  the  world,  that  he  may  aid  the  pupil  to  hear 
and  to  interpret  his  call  aright.  For  he  has  his  work  in  this 
great  world,  and  it  will  issue  its  call  for  him.  This  may  be 
loud  and  insistent,  and  it  may  be  but  a  still  small  voice. 

In  any  case  the  teacher-friend  can  render  valuable  aid 
in  this  crisis  of  life.  It  has  been  well  said  that  a  friend 
is  one  who  shows  us  what  we  can  do.  Many  a  youth  has 
come  to  a  delightful  self-revealing  through  the  insight  of  a 
devoted  Sunday-school  teacher.  There  would  be  more  gospel 
preachers  to-day  if  Sunday-school  teachers  had  been  more 
intelligent  and  faithful.  Many  a  sermon  has  been  preached 
to  the  salvation  of  men  that  would  never  have  found  voice 
but  that  some  teacher  interpreted  the  Spirit's  call  to  the 
preacher.  Many  a  missionary  has  gone  to  the  far-off  pagan 
lands  through  the  vision  that  has  been  opened  before  him 
by  his  teacher.  Many  a  successful  business  man  has  been 
started  on  his  prosperous  way  by  this  same  kind  of  helpful 
influence. 

George  William  Curtis  once  told  this  story  at  a  birthday 
dinner  in  Boston.  An  Oriental  prince  and  his  mentor  walked 
abroad  one  day,  the  latter  carrying  in  his  hand  a  jar,  which 
he  presently  uncorked.  From  the  open  mouth  of  the  vessel 
rose  a  gas,  and  this  the  mentor  lighted.  Thick  fumes  curled 
up  from  the  burning  gas  and  gradually  took  such  shape 
that  the  prince  could  not  help  recognizing  traces  of  his  own 
features,   though   ennobled   and   glorified.     "Can   it   be   that 

3 


THE  CALL  OF  THE  WORLD  275 

this  pictures  me?"  asked  the  flattered  prince.  "Yes,"  smiled 
the  mentor;  "not,  however,  as  you  are,  but  as  you  ought 
to  be."  The  wise  and  loving  teacher  carries  this  jar  and 
is  able  to  present  to  his  pupil  thereby  those  ideals  of  future 
character  that  he  may  realize. 

It  is  not  uncommon  for  inexperienced  young  people  to 
place  their  affections  upon  the  wrong  things.  Their  esti- 
mates of  moral  values  need  to  be  rectified  often.  Herbert 
Spencer  is  said  to  have  indulged  once  in  a  while  in  a  game 
of  billiards  for  recreation.  A  young  man  who  knew  him 
asked  the  philosopher  if  he  would  join  in  a  game,  and  he 
consented.  Mr.  Spencer  started  the  balls.  He  left  them 
in  good  position,  and  the  young  man,  who  was  an  expert, 
finished  the  game  in  one  break,  not  allowing  his  antagonist 
another  shot.  Then  the  young  man  smilingly  looked  to 
Mr.  Spencer  for  the  expected  compliment.  But  he  looked 
seriously  at  the  youth,  and  said,  "Sir,  moderate  proficiency 
at  this  sport  is  a  sign  of  good  education ;  such  mastership, 
however,  as  you  exhibit  is  the  proof  of  an  ill-spent  youth." 
Then  he  took  his  hat  and  disappeared. 

III.    Enlarged  Plans  Required 

We  have  spent  some  time  in  the  consideration  of  the 
new  world  in  which  we  live.  The  day  was,  and  that  not  so 
long  ago,  when  every  family,  almost,  was  sufficient  unto  it- 
self. This  is  interestingly  evident  in  the  Wash- 
the  World  ington  mansion  at  Mount  Vernon.  But  now  the 
division  of  labor  has  made  us  all  specialists, 
and  this  means  dependence.  Think  how  many  thousands  of 
people  serve  us  in  what  we  eat  and  wear  and  use  every 
day.  But  it  also  means  the  enlargement  of  our  lives.  At 
first  the  individual  was  made  perfect  in  his  family,  then  in 
his  clan  or  tribe,  then  in  the  State,  then  in  the  nation,  and 
now  at  last  he  must  live  in  the  whole  wide  world  if  he 
lives  at  all. 

The   world   is   more   htan    simply   expanded;    it   is    ener- 


276       THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

gized.  It  is  said  that  the  four  great  manufacturing  nations, 
the  United  States,  England,  France,  and  Germany,  have 
steam  power  in  excess  of  the  aggregate  of  all  the  human 
male  muscular  power  in  the  whole  world,  and  this  can  be 
increased  indefinitely  as  it  may  be  needed.  Machinery  has 
greatly  enhanced  the  power  of  the  common  man.  He  is 
said  to  be  fifty  times  as  powerful  as  he  was  a  century  ago. 
He  has  seized  the  lever  of  nature,  grasping  which  he  can 
do  as  much  as  could  fifty  men  a  hundred  years  ago — and 
this  power  is  increasing. 

The  thought-world  is  growing  faster  than  any  other. 
What  wonder  that  old  theological  conceptions  have  been 
disturbed  by  the  prodigious  advancement  of  learning!  When 
the  pope  of  Rome  drew  a  line  in  the  Atlantic  Ocean  and 
declared  that  there  was  no  land  beyond  it,  that  error  was 
so  much  the  worse  for  the  pope — not  for  geography.  Dr. 
Strong  well  says  that  "thinking  minds  want  a  religious  con- 
ception large  enough  to  make  room  for  the  enlarged  ideas, 
comprehensive  enough  to  embrace  every  new  fact  of  universal 
knowledge,  secure  enough  to  welcome  every  new  ray  of  light 
from  whatever  source — a  religion  adapted  not  only  to  the 
individual,  but  also  to  the  vast  life  of  society;  not  a  re- 
ligion of  rules,  but  one  of  principles,  applicable  to  all  the 
possible  complexities  of  human  relationships  and  capable  of 
solving  social  as  well  as  personal  problems." 

IV.    A  New  Salvation 

The  new  point  of  view  gives  us  a  conception  of  the 
gospel  salvation  so  much  enlarged  that  it  may  be  called  a 

new  salvation.  Not  that  it  is  new  to  the  gospel. 
The  Gospel  q£  course ;  but  it  arises  out  of  a  deeper  study  of 
Realized  ^^^  gospel.     Whatever  theological  theory  might 

have  been,  the  *'life-boat  theory"  has  been  gen- 
erally adopted  in  Christian  practice.  The  way  of  salvation 
has  been  conceded  to  be  to  "leave  the  poor  old  stranded 
wreck  and  pull  for  the  shore,"  the  said  wreck  being  the  world 


THE  CALL  OF  THE  WORLD  2-]-] 

lying  in  wickedness,  dead  in  trespasses  and  sins.  Banyan's 
immortal  allegory  sets  forth  this  theory.  His  typical  Chris- 
tian forsakes  his  home  and  his  city,  which  is  named  the 
city  of  Destruction,  to  save  his  soul  by  seeking  a  far-off 
heaven.  He  does  not  even  take  his  wife  and  children  with 
him,  but  leaves  them  to  make  their  own  perilous  way  by 
themselves.  For  his  neighbors  and  his  town  he  seems  to 
care  nothing  and  to  hope  nothing. 

But  we  do  not  so  regard  our  Christian  mission  to-day. 
We  do  not  leave  the  city  we  live  in  to  destruction,  nor  do 
we  believe  that  it  is  hopelessly  depraved.  The  modern  Sun- 
day-school teacher,  in  the  crisis  of  his  pupils'  lives,  urges 
upon  them  their  own  community  as  the  place  where  they 
ought  to  work.  He  has  no  use  for  a  life-boat.  He  solemnly 
warns  them  against  hating  the  world,  and  teaches  them  to 
love  the  world  as  their  Master  did,  or  as  did  the  Infinite 
Father  who  "so  loved  the  world  that  He  gave  His  only 
begotten  Son"  to  come  and  save  it.  The  world  as  repre- 
senting the  spirit  of  evil  Is  quite  another  thing,  and  this  dis- 
tinction must  always  be  made. 

Lord  Shaftesbury  illustrated  the  true  Christian  thought  of 
salvation  when  he  talked  to  Frances  Power  Cobbe  about 
the  wrongs  of  the  working-girls.  With  tears  in  his  eyes 
and  with  a  trembling  voice  he  said  to  her :  "When  I  think 
that  I  am  growing  old  and  that  I  have  not  long  to  live,  I 
hope  it  is  not  wrong,  but  I  can  not  bear  to  die  and  leave 
the  world  with  so  much  wretchedness  in  it."  On  this  Dr. 
Strong  comments :  "The  wretchedness  from  which  so  many 
would  flee  was  precisely  that  which  bound  him  to  the  earth. 
He  would  fain  stay  so  long  as  he  could  relieve  any  measure 
of  the  world's  woe,  and  bring  heaven  a  little  nearer  earth. 
That  to  my  mind  is  a  far  more  Christian  conception  of  life 
and  more  heroic  than  that  which  is  represented  in  the  'Pil- 
grim's Progress.'  Let  us  not  be  impatient  for  heaven.  It 
will  keep.'^ 

Tennyson's    swan-song   is    beautifully   appropriate    to    the 

8 


278       THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

close  of  a  long  earthly  pilgrimage,  but  it  is  not  for  the 
earnest  youth.  Let  him  rather  sing,  "Sunrise  and  morning 
star,  and  one  clear  call  for  me."  Happy  is  that  teacher 
who  is  able  to  make  the  cry  of  the  world's  need  a  clear 
call  to  his  pupils. 

V.    The  Vocational  Awakening 

Corresponding  to  the  call  from  without  is  a  cry  within. 
It  is  the  sign  of  a  new  life  which  has  been  called  a  voca- 
tional awakening;  that  is,  the  adolescent  feels  within  him 
the  stirrings  of  new  powers  and  purposes  more 
Guidance  in  «^  (jgf^j^j^g  and  more  ambitious  than  he  has  felt 
a  Life  Work  before.  He  is  beginning  to  choose  his  part  in 
the  work  of  life.  Perhaps  the  choice  is  made 
early  and  eagerly  and  is  never  changed.  His  life  is  the 
projection  of  his  adolescent  election.  Perhaps,  however,  his 
mind  is  less  decisive.  He  inclines  in  a  certain  direction, 
but  wavers  and  oscillates  for  some  time  before  he  knows  just 
v/here  he  will  take  his  stand.  But  the  important  thing  for 
the  teacher  of  adolescents  is  to  recognize  the  fact  of  this 
awakening,  along  with  other  peculiarities  of  youth,  and  to  be 
ready  for  it.  He  will  be  more  likely  to  underrate  it  than 
to  overrate  it,  for  the  youth  may  have  little  to  say  about 
what  is  very  much  in  his  thoughts. 

Haslett  reminds  us  that  some  of  the  world's  greatest 
productions  have  been  thought  out  during  this  stage  of  life, 
which  shows  its  possibilities  at  least.  Eduard  Von  Hartmann 
published  his  "Philosophy  of  the  Unconscious"  at  the  age 
of  twenty-five.  Schopenhauer  produced  his  "Fourfold  Root 
of  the  Principle  of  Sufficient  Reason"  at  twenty-five.  Schel- 
ling  came  before  the  world  as  a  philosophic  writer  when 
he  was  but  eighteen,  and  at  twenty-two  had  established  his 
ability  as  a  thinker.  Kant  began  his  literary  career  at  the 
age  of  twenty-two.  Malebranche  began  his  public  life  at  the 
age  of  twenty-one,  when  he  was  elected  a  member  of  the 
Congregation  de  I'oratoire.    Descartes  became  dissatisfied  with 


THE  CALL  OF  THE  WORLD  279 

the  prevailing  philosophy  before  he  was  twenty-one,  and  when 
he  reached  that  age  left  science  awhile  for  life  in  the  camp. 
Aristotle  at  the  age  of  sixteen  began  the  study  of  philosophy 
under  Plato  at  Athens.  The  great  majority  of  students 
enter  college  at  about  the  age  of  eighteen  to  twenty. 

Bryant  produced  "Thanatopsis"  at  the  age  of  eighteen. 
He  was  called  precocious,  but  Whittier  and  Longfellow  and 
Lowell  wrote  poetry  at  an  early  age,  as  nearly  all  the  poets 
seem  to  have  done.  It  is  probable  that  all  who  have  written 
literature  at  all  have  begun  to  write  in  their  adolescent 
years.  Preachers  have  heard  the  call  in  their  youth,  and  so 
have  missionaries  and  deaconesses  and  Christian  workers 
generally. 

VI.    The  Consecration  of  the  Life 

It  may  not  be  the  duty  of  the  teacher  to  take  an  active 
part  in  the  choice  of  a  life-work  for  his  pupil.  This  is 
mainly  the  responsibility  of  the  youth  himself.  No  one  ought 
Influence  the  ^°  P"^^^  ^^"^  ^^^^  anything.  But  there  is  one 
Youth  to  thing    which    is    eminently    appropriate    for    the 

Consecration  teacher's  office :  to  impress  upon  the  young  man 
of  Life  to  a  ^j.  ^^^  young  woman  that  every  life  should  be 
devoted  to  usefulness.  No  life-work  should  be 
laid  out  with  only  self  in  view.  The  youth  should  be  dili- 
gently taught  the  reality  and  the  value  of  the  altruistic  prin- 
ciple which  Christianity  has  put  forth  as  peculiarly  its  own. 
He  should  be  told  that  the  life  that  will  bring  the  most  to 
himself  is  that  which  is  considerate  of  others.  Not  merely 
for  Christian  workers,  but  for  all,  the  true  life  is  the  con- 
secrated life.  Not  much  can  be  done  to  influence  the  youth 
aright  by  any  who  are  not  admitted  to  his  intimate  friend- 
ship, nor  can  much  be  done  except  at  this  critical  time. 
But  it  can  be  accomplished  by  a  faithful  teacher,  as  is  evi- 
denced by  the  multitude  of  lives  that  teachers  have  given 
direction  to. 

Take  the  single  case  of  Booker  T.  Washington.     While 


28o       THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

he  was  trying  to  settle  the  momentous  question  of  his  life- 
work  he  became  intensely  interested  in  politics.  He  says 
that  he  came  very  near  yielding  to  these  alluring  tempta- 
tions, but  was  kept  from  so  doing  by  the  feeling  that  he 
would  be  helping  in  a  more  substantial  way  by  assisting  in 
the  laying  of  the  foundation  of  his  race  through  a  generous 
education  of  the  hand,  head,  and  heart.  Where  did  he  get  this 
feeling?  From  his  teacher.  He  declares  that  the  greatest 
benefits  that  he  got  out  of  his  student  life  were  two:  "First, 
was  contact  with  a  great  man,  Gen'l  C.  S.  Armstrong,  who, 
I  repeat,  was  in  my  opinion  the  rarest,  strongest,  and  most 
beautiful  character  that  it  has  ever  been  my  privilege  to 
meet.  Second,  at  Hampton,  for  the  first  time  I  learned 
what  education  was  expected  to  do  for  an  individual.  Before 
going  there  I  had  a  good  deal  of  the  then  rather  prevalent 
idea  that  to  secure  an  education  meant  to  have  a  good, 
easy  time,  free  from  all  necessity  for  manual  labor.  At 
Hampton  I  not  only  learned  that  it  was  not  a  disgrace  to 
labor,  but  learned  to  love  labor,  not  alone  for  its  financial 
value,  but  for  labor's  own  sake  and  for  the  independence 
and  self-reliance  which  the  ability  to  do  something  the  world 
wants  done  brings.  At  that  institution  I  got  my  first  taste 
of  what  it  meant  to  live  a  life  of  unselfishness,  my  first 
knowledge  of  the  fact  that  the  happiest  individuals  are  those 
who  do  the  most  to  make  others  useful  and  happy." 

The  wise  teacher  will  take  a  lively  interest  in  all  that 
pertains  to  the  future  of  his  pupils.  He  will  utilize  his  in- 
teresting personal  knowledge  of  their  individual  talents   for 

their  help  in  determining  their  life-work,  never 
Privilege  doing    violence    to    these.      He    will    exclude   no 

career  from  his  regard.  But  there  is  one  par- 
ticular interest  that  the  Christian  teacher  must  always  hold 
dear.  There  is  one  cause  that  he  will  never  fail  to  have 
duly  presented  to  his  young  people :  that  of  distinctively  Chris- 
tian service.  This  is  greatly  needed  at  the  present  time. 
Never  were  the  harvests  of  the  world  so  white  as  now,  and 


THE  CALL  OF  THE  WORLD  281 

never  were  laborers  so  sorely  needed  in  the  work  of  the 
Church  as  now. 

The  vantage  point  of  the  Sunday-school  teacher  can  be 
utilized  richly  here.  While  he  should  never  seek  unduly  to 
influence  his  pupils  to  enter  the  ministry  or  the  deaconess 
work  or  to  go  into  the  mission  field  or  to  take  training 
for  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  or  other  similar 
work,  he  should  at  least  see  to  it  that  the  facts  concerning 
this  kind  of  service  should  be  fairly  laid  before  them.  He 
should  never  forget  that  Christian  work  means  self-sacrifice 
as  does  no  other,  and  that  this  operates  against  it  in  the 
minds  of  many.  It  is  his  special  privilege  to  show  the  young 
people  the  great  need  of  workers  in  the  Church  and  the 
beauty  and  honor  of  a  consecration  to  the  special  service 
of  Jesus  Christ.  He  will  take  pains  to  keep  informed  con- 
cerning the  progress  of  the  gospel  at  home  and  abroad.  He 
will  make  some  kind  of  a  special  study  of  the  Christian 
pastorate,  so  that  if  occasion  arises  he  can  speak  intelli- 
gently to  inquirers  concerning  it.  He  should  be  able  to 
ofi'set  the  current  objections  of  young  men  to  the  minis- 
terial calling  with  statements  of  its  advantages,  its  possi- 
bilities, and  its  joys. 

He  should  devote  attention  to  the  cause  of  Christian 
missions,  trying  to  keep  pace  with  their  swift  progress  all 
abroad.  He  should  know  something  of  the  great  mission- 
ary organizations  and  their  plans  of  work.  He  should  keep 
posted  on  the  Students'  Volunteer  Movement,  the  Young 
People's  Missionary  Movement,  the  women's  societies  and 
their  minor  bodies.  He  should  know  of  the  new  books  that 
are  being  published  in  the  interest  of  missionary  education 
in  the  Sunday-school  and  elsewhere,  and  should  encourage 
membership  in  mission  study  classes. 

The  object  of  all  this  is  not  so  much  to  make  special 
pleas  for  this  service  as  to  give  it  a  fair  consideration  by 
young  people  who  are  seeking  for  the  best  possible  invest- 
ment of  their  lives.     The  highest  of  all  forms  of  service,  the 

3 


282       THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

Christian  ministry,  in  the  broader  sense,  should  by  no  means 
be  left  in  neglect. 

VII.    A  Satisfying  Portion 

The  Christian  ministry  (using  the  term  of  all  kinds  of 
Church  work)  is  a  satisfying  portion.  When  the  promised 
land  was  divided  among  the  tribes  of  Israel,  Levi  got  none, 
and  it  was  said,  "Levi  hath  no  portion  nor  in- 
The  Truly  heritance  with  his  brethren."  This  seemed  harsh. 
Portion^  But   really  the   Levites    received   far   more   than 

land,  for  it  was  also  said,  "Jehovah  is  his  in- 
heritance." It  has  been  said  that  the  most  pathetic  sight 
of  our  day  is  that  of  great  men  doing  little  things.  "Every- 
where one  sees  high  powers  consecrated  to  common  ends,  capa- 
ble enthusiasms  expended  upon  trivial  accomplishments,  living 
souls  absorbed  and  engrossed  in  the  vocations  and  avocations 
that  are  commensurate  with  only  the  animal  part  of  being." 

The  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  offers  great  tasks  for  great 
souls.  It  can  make  souls  great  by  uniting  them  consciously 
with  Almighty  God  in  the  re-creation  of  the  world.  To  all 
those  who  will  rise  above  the  things  that  perish  and  dedicate 
themselves  to  spiritual  ministries  God  offers  Himself  as 
their  inheritance.  No  one  who  resigns  land  to  give  himself 
to  a  holy  ministry  in  the  name  of  Christ  goes  unrecognized 
by  the  Master.  There  are  great  tasks,  noble  missions,  lofty 
enthusiasms,  large  problems,  and  sacrifices  as  pure  as  ever 
kindled  a  martyr's  devotion  awaiting  the  self-dedication  of 
heroic  young  men  and  women  to-day. 

It  is  the  teacher's  precious  privilege  to  bid  them  listen 
to  the  Voice  that  utters  the  high  call  of  the  world  in  the 
last  words  of  the  incarnate  mission :  "All  authority  hath 
been  given  unto  Me  in  heaven  and  on  earth.  Go  ye,  therefore, 
and  make  disciples  of  all  the  nations,  baptizing  them  in  the 
name  of  the  Father  and  of  the  Son  and  of  the  Holy  Spirit; 
teaching  them  to  observe  all  things  whatsoever  I  have  com- 


THE  CALL  OF  THE  WORLD  283 

manded  you:  and  lo !   I  am  with  you  alway,  even  unto  the 
end  of  the  world," 

Lesson  Outline: 

I.  Guiding  Principles. 

n.  The  Last  Lesson, 

HL  Enlarged  Plans  Required. 

IV.  A  New  Salvation. 

V.  The  Vocational  Awakening. 

VL  The  Consecration  of  the  Life. 

VH.  A  Satisfying  Portion. 

Topics  for  Special  Study: 

1.  The  teaching  of  Jesus  concerning  salvation. 

2.  The  age  of  great  life  choices. 

Topics  for  Class  Discussion: 

1.  What    are    the   leading    principles    underlying    these 

studies? 

2.  How  can  the  teacher  help   his   pupils   choose   their 

life-work? 

3.  In  what  respects  do  the  young  need  help  in  this? 
4;   The  danger  of  too  narrow  plans. 

5.  Should  the  Christian  love  the  world  or  hate  it? 

6.  When  are  life  choices  usually  made? 

7.  How  far  should  others  be  regarded  in  making  this 

choice? 

8.  What    ought   the   teacher   to   do   in   behalf    of   the 

Christian    ministry?     For   missions? 

9.  How  are  young  people  to  know  the  facts  of  Chris- 

tian service? 
10.    What  is  the  noblest  work  in  the  world? 


284       THE  SENIOR  WORKER  AND  HIS  WORK 

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

'The  Graded  Sunday-school  in  Principle  and  Practice," 
Meyer. 

"The  Psychological  Principles  of  Education,"  Home. 

"Adolescence,"   G.   Stanley  Hall. 

"Elements  of  Religious  Pedagogy,"  Fred  Lewis  Pattee. 

•■principles  and  Ideals  for  the  Sunday-school,"  Burton  and 
Mathews. 

"Talks  on  Psychology  and  Life's  Ideals,"  William  James. 

"Principles  of  Religious  Education,"  Nicholas  M.  Butler 
and  others. 

"The  Development  of  the  Child,"  Nathan  Oppenheim. 

"The  Pedagogical  Bible  School,"   Samuel  B.   Haslett. 

"Letters  to  Sunday-school  Teachers,"  Henry  Churchill 
King. 

"The  Training  of  the  Human  Plant,"  Luther  Burbank. 

"The  Spiritual  Life,"  George  A.  Coe. 

"Education  in  Religion  and  Morals,"  George  A.  Coe. 

"The  Religion  of  a  Mature  Mind,"  George  A.  Coe. 

"Studies  in  Christianity,"  Borden  P.  Bowne. 

"Educational  Evangelism,"  Charles  E.  McKinley. 

"Christian  Nurture,"  Horace  Bushnell. 

"The  Religion  of  Childhood,"  F.  G.  Hibbard. 

"Christianity  and  Childhood,"  Richard  J.   Cooke. 

"The  Psychology  of  Religion,"  Edwin  D.  Starbuck. 

"The  Boy  Problem,"  William  B.  Forbush. 

"Studies  in  Childhood,"  James  Sully. 

"The  Point  of  Contact  in  Teaching,"  Patterson  DuBois. 

"The  Natural  Way  in  Moral  Training,"  Patterson  DuBois. 

"The  Unfolding  Life,"  Antoinette  A.  Lamoreaux. 

"The  Meaning  of  Education,"  Nicholas  Murray  Butler. 

"My  Pedagogic  Creed,"  John  Dewey. 

"Primer  on  Teaching,"  John  Adams. 

"Education,"  Herbert  Spencer. 

"The  Seven  Laws  of  Teaching,"  John  M.  Gregory. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  285 

"How  to  Plan  a  Lesson,"  Marianna  C.  Brown. 

"Education  and  the  Larger  Life,"  C.  Hanford  Henderson. 

"Teachers  and  Teaching,"  Henry  Clay  Trumbull. 

"A  New  Life  in  Education,"  Fletcher  Durell 

"The  Times  and  Young  Men,"  Josiah  Strong. 

"Expansion,"  Josiah  Strong. 

"The  Next  Great  Awakening,"  Josiah  Strong. 

"On  the  Threshold,"  Theodore  T.  Hunger. 

"Entering  on  Life,"  Cunningham  Geikie. 

"The  School  and  Society,"  John  Dewey. 

"The  Child's  Religious  Life,"  W.  G.  Koons. 

"Studies  in  the  Art  of  Illustration,"  Amos  R.  Wells. 

"Missions  in  the  Sunday-school,"  Martha  B.  Hixson. 

"Servants  of  the  King,"  Robert  E.  Speer. 

"Missionary  Methods,"  George  H.  Trull. 


Date  Due 

'Sta^ii^iii^' 

f) 

PRINTED 

IN  U.  S.  A. 

